NEWS: The Great Smog of London

On this day in 1952, Londoners woke up to foggy weather that escalated to something deadly. On this post, I'll try to talk you through the incident that was among the worst pollution disasters of the 20th century.

Rasha had sent me these photographs last year, after I was looking for foggy November weather to build up my blog's forecast for the month. I was thrilled and had initially wanted to post them then, until I realised they were all taken between 5th and 9th December. It doesn't usually matter when photographs were taken if they suited my posts, but I was still curious as to why only in that specific time period, so I read a few articles and decided to post the photographs with the news, today.

Trafalgar Square, 5th December 1952   

The 5th December 1952, started as a day that seemed like any other day in London; Cold and foggy, as it had been for the past month.

London being an industrial capital, naturally there were many factories around that omitted toxic gas, which as a result, created smog called Pea Souper - for it's yellowish/greenish colour caused by sulphur dioxide present in the air. Everybody was used to it though, so nobody felt the dangers that came on this particular day, when the smog changed for the worse...

A tugboat on the Thames near Tower-Bridge, 1952         

In only four days, the smoke covered the whole city and it became not only hard to breath outside, but dangerous.

Hampstead Heath, 8th December 1952                                           

Children were asked to stay inside, boats were docked and planes were grounded. Meanwhile, crime rates grew, as it was near impossible to see, thus more difficult to get caught.

*You can read about the incidents below.

The New York Times published on 8th December 1952, posted by Timothy Hughes      

Over 4,000 people lost their lives between 5th December and 9th December, while 12,000 after that were said to have also died as a direct result of the fog.  

Policemen directing traffic around Marble Arch, 6th December 1952                

There's a book about the opportunistic murders of the London smog called Death In The Air by Kate Winkler Dawson, - not to be confused with the Agatha Christie book with the same name - that sounds interesting to read at this time especially before starting something classic for a more Christmassy feel.

It is definately on my reading list!