Acidic Fog Killed 12,000 People in London in 1952

On the morning of December 5th, 1952, the people of London woke up to their typically foggy city. The weather that day though was unusually cold and there was practically no wind. Unbeknownst to the citizens at the time though, this wasn’t their normal fog, and it wouldn’t leave until Tuesday, December 9th, 4 days later.

Sitting above the city was something called an anticyclone, which is a weather event that causes a particular area to be overly calm, caused by cyclical winds around that area. Londoners already being used to their foggy city first went about their days as normal, but when the fog didn’t go away, and started to feel more and more toxic, Londoners knew something was wrong.

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Images licensed from Alamy.

[nickhastings]

You said “London has suffered from poor air quality ever since it began industrializing in the *13th* century, ” though I think you meant the *18th* century. The industrial revolution didn’t begin until the 18th century.

[rapman]

This channel is so much better than “mode of horror” channel. Thank you

[dolfin]

How many people fell into the river at that time ? The banks of the river are lined with high walls to prevent people falling in!