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For the second year in a row, Scotland experienced cold wintry, still conditions during Guy Fawkes night. Throughout Scotland a peak in PM10 and PM2.5 was recorded during the evening of the 5th November. Though the pollution experienced this year was not high enough and long enough to cause any Moderate or High air pollution reports, the event can be easily seen across the whole Network (Figure 1). Figure 2 highlights a more limited selection of sites showing both a peak on the evening of 5th and peaks at some sites on subsequent evenings.

By clicking here you can see the provisional data for every PM10 and PM2.5 analyser in the Scottish Network individually.

Figure 3 shows the pollution event experienced by PM2.5 analysers across the network, clearly showing the peaks in PM2.5 data on the 5th November 2010 and subsequent evenings, at some sites.

This year there was good data capture during this event. Through the Scottish air quality forum (www.scottishairquality.co.uk/forum), AEA advised LA’s not to change filters in FDMS analysers prior to bonfire night.

November 5th is traditionally when the nation celebrates bonfire night with organised public and domestic Bonfires and Firework displays. These activities create increased emissions of Particulate Matter which, coupled with cold still weather, can cause air pollution to concentrate and linger, rather than disperse in more windy conditions.