SmogRank / United Kingdom / Scotland / Edinburgh

Edinburgh, month by month

Edinburgh has a measured daily mean on 711 days since 2 January 2023. Its worst month was May 2024, at 52 US AQI (9.5 µg/m³), 853rd of 2,684 cities on that month's world ranking. Its cleanest was September 2025, at 18 US AQI (3.2 µg/m³).

Every month since 2023

2026too few days for a mean (a year needs 199)86 days measured
Jan36#1,956Feb31#2,522Mar32#2,578AprnoneMaynoneJunnoneJulnoneAugnoneSep1 dayOct22#2,509
2025too few days for a mean (a year needs 256)220 days measured
JannoneFebnoneMar2 daysApr37#2,106May35#1,828Jun31#2,240Jul28#2,595Aug32#2,574Sep18#3,044Oct28#2,039Nov10 daysDec26#2,777
2024too few days for a mean (a year needs 257)204 days measured
Jan26#2,133Feb26#2,218Mar29#1,278Apr17 daysMay52#853Jun9 daysJulnoneAug26#1,914Sep34#1,481Oct32#1,557NovnoneDecnone
2023too few days for a mean (a year needs 256)201 days measured
Jan21 daysFeb3 daysMar11 daysApr19 daysMay17 daysJun14 daysJul15 daysAug17 daysSep20 daysOct15 daysNov23#2,103Dec23#2,117
Each square is a month's mean PM2.5 in US AQI from Edinburgh's measured days, with its place on that month's world ranking under it. A month has a mean once 70% of its days are measured, the rule the monthly rankings use; under that, the square gives the days measured. Each square opens that month's ranking with Edinburgh marked; each year, the year's. A dashed square is the running month, so far.
Good0–50
Moderate51–100
Sensitive groups101–150
Unhealthy151–200
Very unhealthy201–300
Hazardous301+

The US EPA's Air Quality Index for PM2.5 (2024 breakpoints). Show values as: µg/m³ · US AQI · India AQI · China AQI · European AQI · UK DAQI · Canada AQHI+. About the scales

Months without a mean, and why

25 months
MonthWhy
Sep 20261 of 30 days measured; a month needs 21. The others: 29 with under 18 hours of readings or readings that failed our checks.
Aug 2026No day measured. The others: 31 with under 18 hours of readings or readings that failed our checks.
Jul 2026No day measured. The others: 31 with under 18 hours of readings or readings that failed our checks.
Jun 2026No day measured. The others: 30 with under 18 hours of readings or readings that failed our checks.
May 2026No day measured. The others: 31 with under 18 hours of readings or readings that failed our checks.
Apr 2026No day measured. The others: 30 with under 18 hours of readings or readings that failed our checks.
Nov 202510 of 30 days measured; a month needs 21. The others: 20 with under 18 hours of readings or readings that failed our checks.
Mar 20252 of 31 days measured; a month needs 22. The others: 29 with under 18 hours of readings or readings that failed our checks.
Feb 2025No day measured. The others: 28 with under 18 hours of readings or readings that failed our checks.
Jan 2025No day measured. The others: 31 with under 18 hours of readings or readings that failed our checks.
Dec 2024No day measured. The others: 31 with under 18 hours of readings or readings that failed our checks.
Nov 2024No day measured. The others: 30 with under 18 hours of readings or readings that failed our checks.
Jul 2024No day measured. The others: 31 with under 18 hours of readings or readings that failed our checks.
Jun 20249 of 30 days measured; a month needs 21. The others: 21 with under 18 hours of readings or readings that failed our checks.
Apr 202417 of 30 days measured; a month needs 21. The others: 13 with under 18 hours of readings or readings that failed our checks.
Oct 202315 of 31 days measured; a month needs 22. The others: 16 with under 18 hours of readings or readings that failed our checks.
Sep 202320 of 30 days measured; a month needs 21. The others: 10 with under 18 hours of readings or readings that failed our checks.
Aug 202317 of 31 days measured; a month needs 22. The others: 14 with under 18 hours of readings or readings that failed our checks.
Jul 202315 of 31 days measured; a month needs 22. The others: 1 missing from OpenAQ's archive, 15 with under 18 hours of readings or readings that failed our checks.
Jun 202314 of 30 days measured; a month needs 21. The others: 16 with under 18 hours of readings or readings that failed our checks.
May 202317 of 31 days measured; a month needs 22. The others: 14 with under 18 hours of readings or readings that failed our checks.
Apr 202319 of 30 days measured; a month needs 21. The others: 2 missing from OpenAQ's archive, 9 with under 18 hours of readings or readings that failed our checks.
Mar 202311 of 31 days measured; a month needs 22. The others: 20 missing from OpenAQ's archive.
Feb 20233 of 28 days measured; a month needs 20. The others: 25 missing from OpenAQ's archive.
Jan 202321 of 31 days measured; a month needs 22. The others: 6 missing from OpenAQ's archive, 3 with under 18 hours of readings or readings that failed our checks.

A day counts once 18 hours of it are measured; a month needs 70% of its days.

Edinburgh's worst months

MonthUS AQIDays measuredWorld rank
May 2024 529.5 µg/m³29 of 31853rdof 2,684
April 2025 376.7 µg/m³28 of 302,106thof 2,951
January 2026 366.5 µg/m³25 of 311,956thof 2,617
May 2025 356.3 µg/m³28 of 311,828thof 2,826
September 2024 346.1 µg/m³24 of 301,481stof 2,010
October 2024 325.8 µg/m³23 of 311,557thof 2,020

Monthly means over the days measured; finished months only. World rank: its place on that month's world ranking of every city with enough days. Each month opens that ranking.

Edinburgh's worst days

DayUS AQI
15 May 2024 8326.2 µg/m³
14 May 2024 7622.4 µg/m³
14 Feb 2023 7622.3 µg/m³
25 Jan 2026 7120.0 µg/m³
18 May 2024 6918.8 µg/m³
2 May 2024 6918.5 µg/m³
11 Mar 2024 6818.3 µg/m³
21 Mar 2026 6717.8 µg/m³
13 May 2024 6516.6 µg/m³
14 Aug 2025 6516.5 µg/m³

Daily means, the highest since 2 Jan 2023; the WHO's daily guideline is 15 µg/m³. Each date opens that day's world ranking, and each episode the bad-air spell it was part of.

Use this history

SmogRank, PM2.5 monthly and daily means, Edinburgh, United Kingdom, 2 Jan 2023 – 11 Oct 2026. Monitor data from UK-AIR (Defra), read from the publisher; sources listed at smogrank.com/sources. smogrank.com/gb/edinburgh/history (accessed 12 Oct 2026).

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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.

Edinburgh now: the last 24 hours, its ranks today and the last 12 months day by day.

Updated 2026-10-12 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 low-cost readings: Sensor.Community, ODbL (data and licence). Some readings: Uzhydromet (Uzbekistan's Hydrometeorological Service); Department of Environment, Nepal; Vietnam's government monitors; Aurassure; Umhverfisstofnun (Environment Agency of Iceland); RMCAB (Secretaría Distrital de Ambiente, Bogotá); Love My Air (City and County of Denver), no reuse terms published (why we use them).