Clean Air Day 2026, UK groups push councillors to act on pollution
On 18 June 2026, the 10th annual Clean Air Day saw campaigners across the UK press local councillors to adopt measures such as clean air zones, better school ventilation, and more walking and cycling. Public monitoring flagged nitrogen dioxide hotspots, with a Nutley Terrace sensor in NW3 recording NO2 above World Health Organization guidelines from February through June 2026, and the Royal College of Physicians podcast advised clinicians how to discuss air quality with patients. London officials pledged an additional £6 million to help boroughs accelerate local improvements, while groups urged councils to back free cycle passes, electric buses, and indoor air filtration in public buildings. The day matters because councillors' short-term policy choices and investments can quickly reduce respiratory harms for children, workers, and vulnerable people and shape local transport for years.
![Section of a handwritten letter in blue ink, reading 'I would like to render you a report of my health, as I think one id due about October. Well I am very pleased to say that I have survived an alarming experience during the last 3 days + nights of 'Fog'. I was totally incapable of raising my body to an upstanding position or for that matter moving a limb owing to exertion of breathing or shall I say trying to hold on to LIFE. Well it is all over now thank God. My doctor has prescribed the necessary medicine and recommends a fluid diet. But I don't want to undergo such an experience again without having some remedy...".
From correspondence between patient WA and the Lady Almoner at Frimley [TB] Sanatorium, 1942-1957 [RLHBH/AL/3/27/9]. The patient goes on to make a request for a prescription for a respiratory mask to help with future smog, and a note indicates the Lady Almoner has requested a Burney Yeo inhaler (mask) for WA from the dispensary at the Brompton Hospital.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:kpxxiqvlbi3oovm5uue5sbnh/bafkreiajtc6c4of5rumploqa35dw6z6o53bzsbn4p7je5rlxxg54jo2wlq)
