Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps have been taken to monitor current levels of air pollution from Central and Eastern Europe in the South and East of England.

Defra uses both monitoring and modelling to assess air quality in the UK. Measurement data is updated hourly on our website at:

http://uk-air.defra.gov.uk for the 142 automatic monitoring sites across the UK.

While Defra does not monitor air pollution in central and eastern Europe, the UK air quality forecast provided by the Met Office takes account of European emissions and forecast weather conditions.

Defra also operates a network that measures particle numbers, size and composition, providing additional information about sources of particulate pollution. Information is available at: http://uk-air.defra.gov.uk/networks/network-info?view=particle.