91Èȱ¬

You can see it, smell it, and even taste it. Air pollution can have a massive impact on our lives.

Here in the UK air pollution is the largest environmental risk to public health according to the government, and is estimated to cause between 28,000 and 36,000 deaths every year.

The impact it has on our lives can often be linked to prevailing weather conditions too.

The air pollution that we can breathe in comes from a number of different sources, and in different concentrations depending on your proximity to them.

Transport, industry, agriculture and even our own homes all have a part to play, emitting potentially dangerous gases and particulates into the atmosphere.

Almost every organ in our bodies can be impacted by air pollution. The says that particulate matter, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxide, sulphur dioxide and ozone are of a particular public health concern.

Short-term exposure to air pollution can cause asthma as well as other respiratory and cardiovascular health impacts. These can worsen with longer term exposure and in some cases result in reduced life expectancy.

Certain areas, like those close to busy urban roads, will tend to have greater spikes in pollution, but our weather can influence general air quality over a larger area.

Areas of high pressure settling across the UK often have the biggest influence in pollution levels building up. This is due to the lighter winds close to Earth's surface meaning pollution doesn't disperse widely, but also due to a process that occurs higher up in the atmosphere.

Under areas of high pressure a layer of warmer air can form in the sky above us, called a temperature inversion, which then acts like an invisible ceiling.

When winds are light below the inversion, pollution can become trapped and steadily build up to cause a thick visible haze.

Clear skies, especially in the summer, can worsen the situation further when sunlight reacts with nitrogen oxide built up in the atmosphere to make dangerous ozone.

Wind direction can then be crucial to shifting pollution from one area to another, even moving it a long distance away from its direct source. It's for this reason we can sometimes see poorer air quality in the countryside compared to built up urban areas.

Here in the UK, south-east winds can be particularly problematic, bringing polluted air from heavy industry and urban areas of north-west Europe to our shores, as well as widely distributing locally generated pollution.

However, our location on the edge of the Atlantic often works in our favour. A change in wind direction, strength, or weather set-up can help disperse pollution and bring in cleaner air.

You can access the latest general air pollution forecast for your area on the 91Èȱ¬ Weather app and website, but remember that levels can be higher close to direct sources of pollution, such as by busy roads.