Air quality

Air quality in Wakefield 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 Sun, Oct 25, 6:00 pm (18:00 UTC).

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

US AQI now
35 Good
PM2.5
3 µg/m³ 0.2× WHO 24-h guideline
PM10
7.9 µg/m³
Ozone
74 µg/m³
Dominant pollutant
ozone sub-index 35
Best hour today
6:00 pm AQI 35
European AQI
27

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Air quality in Wakefield right now

Right now the modelled US Air Quality Index for Wakefield, England, 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 3 µg/m³, within the WHO 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³; PM10 is 7.9 µg/m³ against a guideline of 45; ozone is 74 µg/m³ (below the WHO 8-hour level of 100); nitrogen dioxide is 3.1 µg/m³ (below the 24-hour guideline of 25).

Also this hour: carbon monoxide 154 µg/m³.

NASA FIRMS shows 16 fire hotspots within 300 km in the last day (nearest about 59 km), but particle levels are not elevated enough to point to smoke right now.

Wakefield AQI forecast: next 48 hours

Over the next 24 hours the AQI is forecast to range from 25 around Mon 11:00 am to 35 around Sun 6:00 pm, staying "Good" throughout.

The following day looks similar, averaging about 27.

Local time (Europe/London)US AQICategoryPM2.5 µg/m³PM10 µg/m³Ozone µg/m³
Sun 6:00 pm35Good3874
Sun 9:00 pm35Good3.8870
Mon 12:00 am33Good3.61065
Mon 3:00 am31Good3.8960
Mon 6:00 am29Good3.41057
Mon 9:00 am27Good4.91249
Mon 12:00 pm25Good3.2658
Mon 3:00 pm25Good3453
Mon 6:00 pm25Good3.8854
Mon 9:00 pm25Good3.3757
Tue 12:00 am25Good3.7854
Tue 3:00 am26Good2.6655
Tue 6:00 am25Good2.2554
Tue 9:00 am26Good2.51064
Tue 12:00 pm28Good1.8566
Tue 3:00 pm30Good2.8766
Tue 6:00 pm30Good3.5861

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 Wakefield today

Between 6 am and 9 pm local time, the cleanest air today is forecast around 6:00 pm (AQI 35, Good) and the worst around 6:00 pm (AQI 35). The difference across the day is small, so timing matters little.

Wakefield vs the rest of United Kingdom

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

It ranks 94 of 134 from cleanest to most polluted; the cleanest is London (33) and the most polluted Newquay (38).

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

Air quality in cities near Wakefield

CityDistanceUS AQICategoryPM2.5 µg/m³
Leeds13 km35Good3
Huddersfield19 km35Good3
Bradford21 km35Good3
Halifax, England23 km35Good3
Rotherham30 km35Good3
Doncaster30 km35Good3
Sheffield33 km34Good3.2
York41 km35Good2.9

Model vs measured

We found no measured PM2.5 sensor cell within 25 km of Wakefield, 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 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 Wakefield

Air quality elsewhere

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