Air quality

Air quality in Dundee today

Updated

Good (US AQI 35) Air quality is satisfactory and poses little or no risk; a good time for outdoor activity. Model estimate for Mon, Oct 26, 2:00 am (02:00 UTC).

Live AQI, PM2.5, PM10 and ozone for Dundee, Scotland, United Kingdom, with a 48-hour forecast and the best time to be outside.

US AQI now
35 Good
PM2.5
2.9 µg/m³ 0.2× WHO 24-h guideline
PM10
8 µg/m³
Ozone
74 µg/m³
Dominant pollutant
ozone sub-index 35
Best hour today
8:00 pm AQI 27
European AQI
27

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Air quality in Dundee right now

Right now the modelled US Air Quality Index for Dundee, Scotland, United Kingdom is 35, which falls in the "Good" band (up to 50). Air quality is satisfactory and poses little or no risk; a good time for outdoor activity.

The index is driven mainly by ozone, whose own sub-index is 35. Ozone usually peaks in the afternoon on sunny days and falls back after sunset.

PM2.5 is 2.9 µg/m³, within the WHO 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³; PM10 is 8 µg/m³ against a guideline of 45; ozone is 74 µg/m³ (below the WHO 8-hour level of 100); nitrogen dioxide is 0.7 µg/m³ (below the 24-hour guideline of 25).

Also this hour: carbon monoxide 147 µg/m³.

NASA FIRMS shows 3 fire hotspots within 300 km in the last day (nearest about 186 km), but particle levels are not elevated enough to point to smoke right now.

Dundee AQI forecast: next 48 hours

Over the next 24 hours the AQI is forecast to range from 25 around Tue 12:00 am to 35 around Mon 2:00 am, staying "Good" throughout.

The following day looks similar, averaging about 31.

Local time (Europe/London)US AQICategoryPM2.5 µg/m³PM10 µg/m³Ozone µg/m³
Mon 2:00 am35Good2.9874
Mon 5:00 am34Good3969
Mon 8:00 am33Good4.61058
Mon 11:00 am30Good51056
Mon 2:00 pm28Good3.2667
Mon 5:00 pm28Good2.4453
Mon 8:00 pm27Good3.3551
Mon 11:00 pm26Good3.9860
Tue 2:00 am27Good3668
Tue 5:00 am29Good2.7565
Tue 8:00 am31Good2461
Tue 11:00 am30Good2.3467
Tue 2:00 pm31Good1.7469
Tue 5:00 pm32Good2.6873
Tue 8:00 pm33Good2.7969
Tue 11:00 pm33Good2.5868
Wed 2:00 am32Good3866

Every third hour of the CAMS forecast via Open-Meteo. US AQI uses rolling averages (24 h for particles, 8 h for ozone), so it moves more slowly than the hourly concentrations.

Best time to be outside in Dundee today

Between 6 am and 9 pm local time, the cleanest air today is forecast around 8:00 pm (AQI 27, Good) and the worst around 6:00 am (AQI 34). The difference across the day is small, so timing matters little.

Dundee vs the rest of United Kingdom

Across 134 United Kingdom cities we track, the average US AQI right now is 32 (Good). Dundee at 35 is about average.

For context, the median across 3,909 cities worldwide is 57.

Air quality in cities near Dundee

CityDistanceUS AQICategoryPM2.5 µg/m³
Perth, Scotland29 km35Good3.1
Kirkcaldy41 km35Good3.2
Edinburgh59 km35Good3.2
Aberdeen92 km36Good2.2
Hamilton, Scotland102 km35Good3.4
Glasgow104 km34Good3.7
Irvine, Scotland141 km37Good3.9
Newcastle upon Tyne187 km34Good3.9

Model vs measured

The nearest measured PM2.5 reading is 1.2 µg/m³ from Sensor.Community (median of 5 sensors), centred about 11 km from the city centre. That is close to the model estimate of 2.9 µg/m³. Low-cost sensors can read high in humid air; reference monitors are more accurate but sparser.

Advice for sensitive groups

With the AQI at 35, there is no need for sensitive groups to change plans. People with asthma should still carry their reliever inhaler as usual.

What the US AQI numbers mean

US AQICategoryWhat it means
0-50GoodAir quality is satisfactory and poses little or no risk; a good time for outdoor activity.
51-100ModerateAcceptable for most people. Unusually sensitive people should consider shortening long or heavy exertion outdoors.
101-150Unhealthy for Sensitive GroupsPeople with heart or lung disease, older adults, children and teens should cut back on prolonged or heavy exertion outdoors.
151-200UnhealthyEveryone should reduce prolonged or heavy exertion outdoors; sensitive groups should avoid it and keep windows closed.
201-300Very UnhealthyHealth alert: everyone should avoid prolonged or heavy exertion outdoors, and sensitive groups should stay indoors.
301-500HazardousEmergency conditions: everyone should avoid all outdoor physical activity and stay indoors with filtered air if possible. The scale tops out at 500; heavier dust or smoke is shown as 500.

Values on this page are modelled by CAMS (Copernicus) and served by Open-Meteo; they are estimates for the area around the city centre, not readings from an official monitor.

Nearby cities

More for Dundee

Air quality elsewhere

Data: Open-Meteo Air Quality API, Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS), Sensor.Community, NASA FIRMS.