The Great Smog

On 5 December 1952, as Londoners rushed around the city after the start of the festive season, fingers of fog began to unfurl between chimneys. But as night rolled in, the fog thickened, and soon a blanket of smog was choking the capital. Londoners stumbled around the streets, unable to see further than a few metres in front of them.

- Rhiannon Davies

When the Sun rose the next day, it failed to blaze away the smog – instead, it grew thicker and thicker, until in some areas people could no longer even make out their feet. For the next four days, it continued to choke the city. Londoners breathing in the fumes started to hack and gag, and cases of pneumonia and bronchitis soared. Hospitals began to fill up, as thousands succumbed to the noxious air.

FATAL COMBINATION

Fog was nothing new in London, though it had never been seen at such extremes before. Even as far back as the 13th century, fogs caused by burning coal were covering the city. However, the Industrial Revolution kicked things up a gear. Newly built factories pumped thousands of tonnes of acrid gases and particulate out of their chimneys, polluting the air and making smogs - a heavily polluted fog - more likely to occur. Nicknamed "peasoupers", these yellow fogs could cause carnage when they descended upon the city. In 1873 for instance, a December fog saw the city's death rate rocket by 40 per cent.