The Great Smog of London

In December 1952, London was smothered under a deadly blanket of yellow-brown smog—an environmental catastrophe now known as the Great Smog of London. For five days, the city ground to a halt as coal smoke, industrial fumes, and cold weather fused into a toxic fog that seeped into homes and hospitals. Visibility vanished, transport stopped, and thousands fell ill. The true scale of the disaster shocked the nation and led directly to major reforms, including the Clean Air Acts. This episode explores what caused the smog, how it unfolded, and why it remains one of the most significant environmental crises in modern British history.