Clean Air Night 2025
Did you know that if you can smell wood burning, you are breathing in air pollution?
Lighting fires in our homes produces particulate matter (PM2.5) – tiny bits of soot and dust invisible to the naked eye. One of the most harmful types of air pollution to human health, PM2.5 enters your bloodstream when inhaled and can cause heart and lung disease, diabetes, and dementia.
That’s why the national campaign, Clean Air Night, is taking place again this year on 22nd January 2025, shining a light on the uncomfortable truth about wood burning.
We’re pleased to be supporting Clean Air Night as part of our wood burning engagement programme which we deliver on behalf of four local authorities. You can get involved by downloading and sharing our resources.
Air quality monitoring as part of this project has recently been studied by researchers at the University of Southampton1. It was found that our annual average PM2.5 levels exceed recommended limits.
The research shows that air pollution, such as wood smoke, gets trapped in cold, still weather conditions, resulting in unhealthy levels of PM2.5 on winter evenings in our communities. The researchers concluded that reducing wood burning in our homes could improve air quality for everyone.
This Clean Air Night, get involved by learning more about the impact of wood burning on our health and planet, then share what you learn with your family, friends and community.
Visit the Clean Air Hub to find out more.
NB: The data from these sensors was supplemented with data from DEFRA’s Automatic Urban and Rural Network and weather date from the Met Office.
