Eerie photos show the Great Smog of London in 1952, which killed 12,000 people and changed the way the world saw air pollution

James PasleyMar 3, 2023, 21:46 IST

A policeman used a flare to guide cars through traffic during the Great Smog in 1952.Daily Mirror Library/Mirrorpix/Getty Images

In 1952, London was blanketed under a dark cloud of human-made air pollution known as the Great Smog.
The smog killed about 12,000 people, along with a dozen cattle who choked on the poisonous air.

Over the course of five days in 1952, the city of London was blanketed in a thick layer of poisonous air that would result in the deaths of thousands.

The Great Smog of 1952 killed 12,000 people. At the time, people didn't realize how toxic the air was because they were used to the smog.

Even today, the tragedy is not particularly well remembered. There are no monuments in London, nor any days of observation.

But the impact of those five days prompted a change in how the world saw air pollution. It led to the creation of the Clean Air Act of 1956, the world's first nationwide legislation regulating pollution.

On December 5, 1952, Londoners woke to a crisp, wintry Friday morning. To warm themselves, the city's 8 million residents did what they always did — they lit fires. At the same time, power stations and workplaces across the city burned coal.

A photograph of a family relaxing in front of the fire.SSPL/Getty Images

On December 5, 1952, Londoners woke to a crisp, wintry Friday morning. To warm themselves, the city's 8 million residents did what they always did — they lit fires. At the same time, power stations and workplaces across the city burned coal.

Back then, power stations were a part of the city. Smoke chugging from industrial chimneys was a symbol to be proud of — it meant people were at work.

Chimneys of an East End factory poke through the blanket of smog covering London.Daily Mirror/Mirrorpix/Mirrorpix via Getty Images

Smoke and smog were so familiar to London that it had a number of nicknames, including "pea soup fog" because of the yellowish or green tint, or as the famous author Charles Dickens called it, "London ivy."

A statue of a horse and two pedestrians in the distance are obscured by smog in London on December 6, 1952.Woods and Reed/Daily Mirror/Mirrorpix/Getty Images

Smoke and smog were so familiar to London that it had a number of nicknames, including "pea soup fog" because of the yellowish or green tint, or as the famous author Charles Dickens called it, "London ivy."

Normally, smoke would rise from London, cool in the atmosphere and then get blown out to sea. But on this particular day, a high pressure system of warm air blanketed the city, trapping cool air below where it mixed with the coal smoke to make smog.

Traffic moves slowly, with lights aglow, as smog descends over the British capital during daytime hours.Bettmann/Getty Images

Normally, smoke would rise from London, cool in the atmosphere and then get blown out to sea. But on this particular day, a high pressure system of warm air blanketed the city, trapping cool air below where it mixed with the coal smoke to make smog.

By the afternoon, the sky had begun to turn a yellow-brown. Funeral director Stan Cribb described the scene to NPR, saying "you had this swirling, like somebody had set a load of car tires on fire."

The smog on December 5, 1952 as seen from the embankment at Blackfriars, London.Monty Fresco/Topical Press Agency/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

By the afternoon, the sky had begun to turn a yellow-brown. Funeral director Stan Cribb described the scene to NPR, saying "you had this swirling, like somebody had set a load of car tires on fire."

At first, people weren't overly concerned. Heavy smog wasn't unusual in London. Since the Industrial Revolution in the late 1700s, London has had a problem with smog.

The Shaftesbury Memorial Fountain is covered by heavy smog in Piccadilly Circus, London, on December 6, 1952.Central Press/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

What no one realized was that for the next five days, the city would be trapped under an increasingly thick blanket of smog since there was no wind to blow it away.

Cars sitting in morning traffic in Blackfriars, London, which is almost at a standstill because of the blanket smog.Don Price/Fox Photos/Getty Images

To make matters worse, temperatures fell, so everyone burned even more coal. Millions of residential fires were adding thousands of tons of smoke to the dark cloud that just kept getting thicker.

A fruit seller's stall in Piccadilly Square is partially lit by a light during the Great Fog on December 7, 1952.Daily Herald Archive/SSPL/Getty Images

To make matters worse, temperatures fell, so everyone burned even more coal. Millions of residential fires were adding thousands of tons of smoke to the dark cloud that just kept getting thicker.

The atmosphere also trapped sulfur dioxide, a gas which is created from burning coal. This caused the haze over the city, and when it mixed with the damp air, it became akin to acid rain.

A family feeding the famous pigeons on a foggy morning in London's Trafalgar Square, in front of two of Landseer's lions, on December 5, 1952.M. Fresco/Topical Press Agency/Getty Images

The atmosphere also trapped sulfur dioxide, a gas which is created from burning coal. This caused the haze over the city, and when it mixed with the damp air, it became akin to acid rain.

Soon, it was almost impossible to see in some areas of the city. School children were told to stay home, boats on the River Thames stopped running, and concerts were cancelled.

Boys sliding on the ice in the fog at Hampstead Heath ponds on December 7, 1952.Phil Dye/Daily Mirror/Mirrorpix/Getty Images

Soon, it was almost impossible to see in some areas of the city. School children were told to stay home, boats on the River Thames stopped running, and concerts were cancelled.

Cars were abandoned on the streets while London's double decker buses had to use their high beams in the middle of the day. Eventually all public transport, other than those underground, came to a standstill.

A transport inspector holding a flare leads a bus out of the terminal at Aldgate East amid dense fog in London in 1952.PA Images via Getty Images

Cars were abandoned on the streets while London's double decker buses had to use their high beams in the middle of the day. Eventually all public transport, other than those underground, came to a standstill.

The smog got so dense that people were even unable to see their feet.

Headlights of a bus faintly glow on Fleet Street in London next to street fog lighting in 1952.PA Images via Getty Images

Cattle reportedly choked to death on the smog. Here, a cow wears a mask made of sacking that was soaked in whisky and water to keep it protected from the smog.

A cow wears a mask made of sacking soaked in whisky and water to protect it from the smog on December 8, 1952.Reg Speller/Fox Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Birds couldn't see in the air above and died flying into buildings.

Pigeons swarm pedestrians as a thick fog shrouds Trafalgar Square and the rest of London on December 7, 1952.Bettmann/Getty Images

When people ventured outside, they found the footpaths had become slick with grease. When they got home, their faces were covered in dirt. They looked like they had just left a coal mine.

Scots Guards march towards Buckingham Palace to take up sentry duty as the dense blanket of fog hides most of London from view.Bettmann/Getty Images

When people ventured outside, they found the footpaths had become slick with grease. When they got home, their faces were covered in dirt. They looked like they had just left a coal mine.

And yet, as bad as it was, people didn't quite realize how serious it was for their health.

A tugboat on the Thames in 1952 during the Great Smog.Fox Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

"There was no sense of drama or emergency," Dr. David Bates, who worked at London's St. Bartholomew's Hospital at the time, told The New York Times.

A London bus conductor is forced to walk ahead of his vehicle to guide it through the smog, on December 9, 1952.Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

By December 6, 1952, about 500 people had died. The smog was especially lethal to smokers, people with respiratory conditions, and the elderly and young.

A policeman used a flare to guide cars through traffic during the Great Smog in 1952.Daily Mirror Library/Mirrorpix/Getty Images

Ambulances weren't operating, so the sick had to either walk or ride the underground to the hospitals.

Large numbers of people using the underground system to get around London during a period of heavy smog, which hampered transport on the roads on December 8, 1952.Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Maureen Scholes, a nurse at the Royal London Hospital, was only in her twenties at the time. She told NPR that, even as a healthy young woman, she had to sleep upright just to breathe.

Nurses check in on a patient on December 9, 1952 (Maureen Scholes not pictured).Keystone/Getty Images

Maureen Scholes, a nurse at the Royal London Hospital, was only in her twenties at the time. She told NPR that, even as a healthy young woman, she had to sleep upright just to breathe.

But without any warning, on December 9, 1952, a westerly wind blew the smog out to the North Sea. The Great Smog was over almost as fast as it began.

People were back on the streets in London later in December 1952.Daniel Farson/Picture Post/Getty Images

Over the following months, the number of people who died would increase to what experts estimate to be around another 8,000. After realizing the danger to their health, people began to wear masks in the smog.

A couple walking in London wearing smog masks on a foggy day in 1953.Monty Fresco/Getty Images

Over the following months, the number of people who died would increase to what experts estimate to be around another 8,000. After realizing the danger to their health, people began to wear masks in the smog.

Unfortunately, smog continued to occasionally blanket London, including another deadly fog a decade later, in 1962, which killed 750 people. But none were as deadly as the Great Smog of 1952.

Two women wear masks as a haze obscures cars behind them in London in 1962.Daily Herald/Mirrorpix/Mirrorpix/Getty Images

Unfortunately, smog continued to occasionally blanket London, including another deadly fog a decade later, in 1962, which killed 750 people. But none were as deadly as the Great Smog of 1952.

The government helped bring an end to deadly smogs by enacting legislation called the Clean Air Act in 1956, which banned coal in homes and in many factories in populated areas.

A woman assesses the burning properties of coal for the railway in 1953.John Chillingworth/Picture Post/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

The government helped bring an end to deadly smogs by enacting legislation called the Clean Air Act in 1956, which banned coal in homes and in many factories in populated areas.

But it was also in part because people were no longer willing to put up with the risk. They had begun to realize they didn't need to live in cities where it was dangerous to breathe.

Julie Harrison of the Hulton Press tries out a protective mask to combat the effects of London's smog.Carl Sutton/Picture Post/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

But it was also in part because people were no longer willing to put up with the risk. They had begun to realize they didn't need to live in cities where it was dangerous to breathe.

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Eerie photos show the Great Smog of London in 1952, which killed 12,000 people and changed the way the world saw air pollution

On December 5, 1952, Londoners woke to a crisp, wintry Friday morning. To warm themselves, the city's 8 million residents did what they always did — they lit fires. At the same time, power stations and workplaces across the city burned coal.

Back then, power stations were a part of the city. Smoke chugging from industrial chimneys was a symbol to be proud of — it meant people were at work.

Smoke and smog were so familiar to London that it had a number of nicknames, including "pea soup fog" because of the yellowish or green tint, or as the famous author Charles Dickens called it, "London ivy."

Normally, smoke would rise from London, cool in the atmosphere and then get blown out to sea. But on this particular day, a high pressure system of warm air blanketed the city, trapping cool air below where it mixed with the coal smoke to make smog.

By the afternoon, the sky had begun to turn a yellow-brown. Funeral director Stan Cribb described the scene to NPR, saying "you had this swirling, like somebody had set a load of car tires on fire."

At first, people weren't overly concerned. Heavy smog wasn't unusual in London. Since the Industrial Revolution in the late 1700s, London has had a problem with smog.

What no one realized was that for the next five days, the city would be trapped under an increasingly thick blanket of smog since there was no wind to blow it away.

To make matters worse, temperatures fell, so everyone burned even more coal. Millions of residential fires were adding thousands of tons of smoke to the dark cloud that just kept getting thicker.

The atmosphere also trapped sulfur dioxide, a gas which is created from burning coal. This caused the haze over the city, and when it mixed with the damp air, it became akin to acid rain.

Soon, it was almost impossible to see in some areas of the city. School children were told to stay home, boats on the River Thames stopped running, and concerts were cancelled.

Cars were abandoned on the streets while London's double decker buses had to use their high beams in the middle of the day. Eventually all public transport, other than those underground, came to a standstill.

The smog got so dense that people were even unable to see their feet.

Cattle reportedly choked to death on the smog. Here, a cow wears a mask made of sacking that was soaked in whisky and water to keep it protected from the smog.

Birds couldn't see in the air above and died flying into buildings.

When people ventured outside, they found the footpaths had become slick with grease. When they got home, their faces were covered in dirt. They looked like they had just left a coal mine.

And yet, as bad as it was, people didn't quite realize how serious it was for their health.

"There was no sense of drama or emergency," Dr. David Bates, who worked at London's St. Bartholomew's Hospital at the time, told The New York Times.

By December 6, 1952, about 500 people had died. The smog was especially lethal to smokers, people with respiratory conditions, and the elderly and young.

Ambulances weren't operating, so the sick had to either walk or ride the underground to the hospitals.

Maureen Scholes, a nurse at the Royal London Hospital, was only in her twenties at the time. She told NPR that, even as a healthy young woman, she had to sleep upright just to breathe.

But without any warning, on December 9, 1952, a westerly wind blew the smog out to the North Sea. The Great Smog was over almost as fast as it began.

Over the following months, the number of people who died would increase to what experts estimate to be around another 8,000. After realizing the danger to their health, people began to wear masks in the smog.

Unfortunately, smog continued to occasionally blanket London, including another deadly fog a decade later, in 1962, which killed 750 people. But none were as deadly as the Great Smog of 1952.

The government helped bring an end to deadly smogs by enacting legislation called the Clean Air Act in 1956, which banned coal in homes and in many factories in populated areas.

But it was also in part because people were no longer willing to put up with the risk. They had begun to realize they didn't need to live in cities where it was dangerous to breathe.