Europe experience a ‘series of winter air pollution episodes’ during December, January and February, a new report from the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) has found.
The CAMS Boreal Winter 2025 report, which monitored air quality in Europe, wildfire emissions, and global concentrations of pollutants during the winter months, noted that elevated concentrations of PM2.5, PM10, and NO₂ affected both western and eastern Europe.
These pollution episodes were linked to periods of high surface pressure, which caused low wind speeds and colder temperatures, with residential heating also contributing to higher emissions levels.
‘Ongoing challenges’
“Persistent winter pollution across Europe is not unusual but highlights the ongoing challenges of air quality in both urban and rural areas,” commented Laurence Rouil, CAMS director. “Such pollution spikes can have real consequences for public health; therefore, we are closely monitoring the situation, tracking exceedances of the regulatory limit values set by the European legislation.
“Understanding the driving sources of such episodes helps decision makers in designing the most appropriate mitigation strategies.”
Fire-related emissions
Outside of Europe, CAMS also tracked significant fire-related emissions and their impact on the environment, with wildfires in the Australian regions of Northern Territory, Queensland, Victoria, and Tasmania persisting from December to February. Emissions in Victoria reached their highest levels since the 2019-2020 bushfires, CAMS stated.
In addition, the California wildfires in January 2025 resulted in significant air quality impacts in the region, with emissions surpassing typical monthly totals within just a few days.
Elsewhere, CAMS noted that the ozone layer over the arctic region reached record-low levels in early 2025, with this depletion caused by an unusually strong and persistent polar vortex, which isolated exceptionally low stratospheric temperatures over the pole.
Ozone levels dropped below 250 Dobson Units (DU), with some areas, including Scandinavia and western Eurasia, experiencing values lower than 220 DU. Read more here.
