Today's air quality in Cheltenham — and in season, the pollen — in plain words, updated hourly.
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Today's air quality in central Cheltenham, updated hourly — and through spring and summer, the pollen. It's the modelled, area-wide picture for the town, not a street monitor. Most of the time the air here is fine; it's on still, cold or very hot days that it's worth a look, and it matters most for young children, older people and anyone with asthma or a heart condition.
Good The air is about as clean as it gets — no reason to change any plans.
Peak modelled counts for today. Hay fever symptoms typically start when counts pass about 50 grains/m³ — grass is the one that affects most people in the UK (May–July); birch is a spring tree pollen (March–May).
| Pollen | Level | Peak today |
|---|---|---|
| Grass | High | 61 grains/m³ |
| Birch | Low | 0 grains/m³ |
| Day | Air quality | Grass pollen |
|---|---|---|
| Tue 7 Jul | Fair | High |
| Wed 8 Jul | Moderate | High |
| Thu 9 Jul | Moderate | High |
| Fri 10 Jul | Moderate | — |
Most of Cheltenham's air pollution comes from road traffic — nitrogen dioxide and fine particles (PM2.5) from engines, brakes and tyres — so it's usually worst beside the busiest roads, like the A40 through town and the ring road. Cheltenham also sits low, right under the Cotswold escarpment at Cleeve Hill and Leckhampton, so on still, cold days the air can sit rather than blow through, and levels edge up.
Ringed by grassland and Cotswold woodland, Cheltenham gets a real grass-pollen season through June and July and a birch spike earlier in the spring. When the grass or tree band shows high here, hay-fever sufferers usually feel it — the pollen figures on this page use the UK Met Office bands.
On the higher-pollution days, young children, people over 65, and anyone with asthma, another lung condition or a heart condition may notice it and should take it a little easier outdoors. Most people won't be affected. If pollution is high and you feel wheezy or short of breath, ease off and follow your usual medical advice — in an emergency, call 999.
Updated . These are modelled estimates for the area around central Cheltenham, not readings from a street monitor — air right beside a busy road can be worse than the area-wide picture. Official forecast: uk-air.defra.gov.uk. Air quality data by Open-Meteo (CC BY 4.0), based on Copernicus CAMS.