Wood smoke. Photography by Elie Theunissen.
After a variable period with heavy rains and occasional light winds, calm will return to the atmosphere in the near future. The days are often dry and the winds are noticeably less. This can cause smoke from burning wood to linger and cause discomfort. Read here what you can expect.
Today, rain showers will continue to move across the country, cleaning the air locally. Starting tomorrow, the chances of precipitation will decrease significantly, and the winds will also remain calm. Friday and Saturday will be quite dry with light inland winds at most.
Heater on?
Because of the calm weather, wood smoke and other air pollution can linger over our country. However, the air will become increasingly dirty in the coming days. This is especially the case at home. There is a bit more wind in coastal areas, which probably means less disturbance here.
Although it is nice and comforting to turn on your fireplace or wood stove during the dark days before Christmas, it can also cause inconvenience. If you have an alternative to heat your home, we recommend leaving your wood stove off.
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Do you have a respiratory disease? Hence, it is better to take dirty air into consideration when ventilating your home. Also adjust your medication use accordingly. By the way, wood smoke is harmful to everyone. People with diseases such as asthma only suffer from them early and noticeably.
Read also: This is why burning firewood is harmful to your health
It’s not just the inconvenience caused by wood stoves
Do you live in a residential area with many fireplaces? Then you may face additional inconvenience these days, but this also applies to residents living near biomass power plants. In addition, traffic exhaust fumes can also linger and cause smog.
Biomass power plants are not only bad for air quality, but they are also unsustainable.
When will it get better?
Winds will be weak across the country on Thursday and Friday. Moderate southwesterly winds are likely to activate over the weekend, causing air quality to slowly improve. The wind can be very strong near the sea, so there will be no disturbance here. The chances of rain will increase again in the new week. It is still uncertain where and when exactly the rain is expected. You can follow this in the Netherlands weather forecast.
