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Air quality in Ireland today

Updated 01:01. The forecast updates every six hours.

31 of 32 counties good or fair

Worst today: Dublin (moderate). Cleanest: Cork. UV up to 2 at midday.

Every county, worst first

European Air Quality Index at its highest today. Pick a county for fine particles, ozone, UV and the days ahead.

Autumn: clean air, until the fires start

Autumn air is usually clean and breezy. As evenings get colder and home heating comes on, smoke starts to build up on still nights in towns, especially where coal or turf is burned.

This is a forecast from the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service. For measured readings, see the EPA’s monitoring stations at airquality.ie.

Questions

Is the air quality good in Ireland today?

The top of this page shows how many counties have good or fair air today, which county is worst and which is cleanest. Ireland’s air is usually among the cleanest in Europe because of the Atlantic winds.

What is the European Air Quality Index?

It combines fine particles (PM2.5 and PM10), nitrogen dioxide and ozone into one scale with six bands: Good, Fair, Moderate, Poor, Very poor and Extremely poor. The worst of the four pollutants sets the band.

When is air quality worst in Ireland?

On cold, still winter evenings, when smoke from coal, turf and wood fires builds up in towns. In summer, ozone can rise on hot, sunny afternoons with an easterly breeze.

Is this measured or forecast?

It is a forecast from the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service. For measured readings from monitoring stations, see the EPA at airquality.ie.