Even the Prime Minister has been affected by the Saharan dust cloud - prevented from going on his early morning jog
The Prime Minister did not go for his morning run bercause of the Saharan dust cloud Photo: Rex Features
The "extraordinary" Saharan dust cloud that has descended on the UK
has prevented the Prime Minister from taking his morning run, he has said.
David Cameron said that the unusual smog-like conditions were "unpleasant"
and warned people to "listen very carefully" to the weather
forecasts and official health advice.
Speaking on BBC Breakfast he said: "It is unpleasant, you can feel it in
the air. The advice is that you listen very carefully to what the Met Office
is saying about the weather, and Public Health England's website.
He added: "I didn't go for my morning run this morning, I chose to do
some work instead. You can feel it but it is a naturally occurring weather
phenomenon - it sounds extraordinary, Saharan dust, but that it what it is."
His comments come as it emerged healthy schoolchildren were being kept indoors
as government experts' conflicting messages about the dangers of smog led to
widespread confusion.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs warned of "very
high" levels of pollution due to a mixture of dust from the Sahara and
industrial emissions from Europe arriving on a south-easterly breeze.
Smog obscures landmarks across the City of London (Reuters)
But its own advisers at Public Health England admitted that the "vast majority of people" would feel no effects and independent experts said there was "no need" to stay indoors.
Photographs of the Prime Minister's official car coated in a thin film of dirt captured the public imagination following an air pollution alert issued by Defra earlier in the week.
Pollution levels have reached 10 out of 10 in some parts of the country due to a combination of local pollution, pollution from the industrialised urban parts of Europe, and a large wind storm in North Africa which has blown dust across the British Isles.
So far scores of flights have been cancelled because of smog as a red dust - swept up from the Sahara and carried by the winds - has settled on cars and windows.
Dr Helen Dacre, a meteorologist at the University of Reading, said: "Weather conditions have conspired to create a 'perfect storm' for air pollution."
