SmogRank / Irlam / Manchester

Irlam vs Manchester: PM2.5 compared

Over the last year, Manchester's air was 36% more polluted than Irlam's: PM2.5 averaged 9.4 µg/m³ against 6.9, on the 141 days both cities were measured. Manchester had the dirtier air on 140 of those days, Irlam on 1. Manchester was over the WHO's daily guideline of 15 µg/m³ on 16 of them, Irlam on 10.

Right now

Irlam#692on the 24-hour board of 738, at 12 US AQI (2.2 µg/m³)

Manchester#445on the 24-hour board of 738, at 23 US AQI (4.2 µg/m³)

The last year, day by day

Irlam

Manchester

Each city's daily mean from 8 Oct 2025 to 7 Oct 2026, one stripe a day, coloured by band. A blank stripe is a day without a daily mean.

Month by month

Monthly means in µg/m³ over the days both cities were measured. Solid: Irlam. Faded: Manchester. A month shows once both share 10 such days. Dashed line: the WHO daily guideline, 15 µg/m³.

Year by year

Year	Irlam	Manchester	Days both measured	Days Irlam was worse
2026 so far	40	53	84	0
2025	36	46	226	11
2024	34	48	253	10
2023	38	51	212	5

Means in US AQI over the days both cities were measured that year; a year shows once they share 30 such days.

Each city's worst days

Irlam

21 Mar 20268426.6 µg/m³
5 Mar 20267521.8 µg/m³
13 Oct 20257220.3 µg/m³

Manchester

21 Mar 202610938.9 µg/m³
5 Mar 20268426.8 µg/m³
19 Mar 20268426.7 µg/m³

Daily means in US AQI, with µg/m³ beside them, since the index stops at its top value, over the days both cities were measured in the last year. Each date opens that day's world board.

Compare either city with another

Irlam

Side by side with London (United Kingdom's worst on 30 days), Gujranwala (the world's worst on 30 days).

Manchester

Side by side with Ashton-under-Lyne (the nearest), London (United Kingdom's worst on 30 days), Gujranwala (the world's worst on 30 days).

Use this page

SmogRank, PM2.5 daily means compared, Irlam and Manchester, 8 Oct 2025 – 7 Oct 2026, smogrank.com/compare/gb-irlam/gb-manchester (accessed 8 Oct 2026).

You're welcome to reuse a single chart, image or figure with this citation and a link. Terms. Raw monitor readings in bulk are published by OpenAQ, under each provider's licence.

The same rules as every SmogRank figure: reference monitors first, and a day counts with 18 measured hours. How we measure.

Updated 2026-10-08 20:07 UTC. Values are PM2.5 (fine particles), the median of each city's monitors, as the US AQI PM2.5 sub-index. Some readings: Uzhydromet (Uzbekistan's Hydrometeorological Service); Department of Environment, Nepal; Vietnam's government monitors; Aurassure; Umhverfisstofnun (Environment Agency of Iceland); Love My Air (City and County of Denver), no reuse terms published (why we use them).