"Great smog": the largest environmental disaster in the UK

In December 1952, the largest environmental disaster in the country's history occurred in great Britain. As a result of the onset of the anticyclone, which brought with it windless weather, pollutants from London that rose above the city formed a thick layer of smog. Harmful substances that filled the space, got into the houses, poisoning of Londoners. Citizens did not pay special attention to this phenomenon, because they took the smog for the usual fog in London.

The disaster, dubbed the "Great smog", caused huge damage. According to various estimates, 4-12 thousand people died as a result of the disaster, including many infants and the elderly. More than 100 thousand people became seriously ill. In connection with these events, the clean air Act was passed in the UK in 1956, and other laws were passed that led to a significant reduction in the level of environmental pollution in the following years.