Air quality

Air quality in Dunstable today

Updated

Good (US AQI 31) Air quality is satisfactory and poses little or no risk; a good time for outdoor activity. Model estimate for Mon, Oct 26, 1:00 am (01:00 UTC).

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

US AQI now
31 Good
PM2.5
5 µg/m³ 0.3× WHO 24-h guideline
PM10
10 µg/m³
Ozone
59 µg/m³
Dominant pollutant
ozone sub-index 31
Best hour today
9:00 pm AQI 25
European AQI
20

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Air quality in Dunstable right now

Right now the modelled US Air Quality Index for Dunstable, England, United Kingdom is 31, 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 31. Ozone usually peaks in the afternoon on sunny days and falls back after sunset.

PM2.5 is 5 µg/m³, within the WHO 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³; PM10 is 10 µg/m³ against a guideline of 45; ozone is 59 µg/m³ (below the WHO 8-hour level of 100); nitrogen dioxide is 4.3 µg/m³ (below the 24-hour guideline of 25).

Also this hour: carbon monoxide 158 µg/m³.

NASA FIRMS shows 24 fire hotspots within 300 km in the last day (nearest about 131 km), but particle levels are not elevated enough to point to smoke right now.

Dunstable AQI forecast: next 48 hours

Over the next 24 hours the AQI is forecast to range from 24 around Mon 11:00 pm to 31 around Mon 1:00 am, staying "Good" throughout.

The following day looks similar, averaging about 28.

Local time (Europe/London)US AQICategoryPM2.5 µg/m³PM10 µg/m³Ozone µg/m³
Mon 1:00 am31Good51059
Mon 4:00 am29Good4.81458
Mon 7:00 am27Good5.11457
Mon 10:00 am27Good3.2762
Mon 1:00 pm28Good2.1361
Mon 4:00 pm27Good4.51050
Mon 7:00 pm26Good4.61055
Mon 10:00 pm25Good4.4954
Tue 1:00 am25Good3.2752
Tue 4:00 am25Good2.9757
Tue 7:00 am26Good2.7560
Tue 10:00 am27Good3760
Tue 1:00 pm28Good3967
Tue 4:00 pm30Good3.3866
Tue 7:00 pm30Good4.11062
Tue 10:00 pm30Good4.61260
Wed 1:00 am28Good5.21256

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 Dunstable today

Between 6 am and 9 pm local time, the cleanest air today is forecast around 9:00 pm (AQI 25, Good) and the worst around 6:00 am (AQI 28). The difference across the day is small, so timing matters little.

Dunstable vs the rest of United Kingdom

Across 134 United Kingdom cities we track, the average US AQI right now is 32 (Good). Dunstable at 31 is about average.

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

Air quality in cities near Dunstable

CityDistanceUS AQICategoryPM2.5 µg/m³
Luton7 km31Good5.1
Bedford28 km31Good4.3
High Wycombe33 km31Good4.3
Harrow37 km28Good4.8
Enfield Town40 km29Good4.9
Slough42 km31Good4.3
Edmonton, England43 km29Good4.9
Tottenham44 km28Good4.8

Model vs measured

We found no measured PM2.5 sensor cell within 25 km of Dunstable, so the numbers on this page are model estimates. Models capture regional pollution well but can miss very local sources such as a busy road or a nearby fire.

Advice for sensitive groups

With the AQI at 31, 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 Dunstable

Air quality elsewhere

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