Urban background station · Manchester, United Kingdom
Manchester-Piccadilly
Urban background station with a modelled PM2.5 annual mean of 8.3 µg/m³ - 1.7× the WHO 2021 guideline. Operated by Defra; EEA code GB0599A.
Data updated 2026-09-01
- 8.3
- PM2.5 µg/m³ (modelled)
- 18.2
- NO2 µg/m³ (modelled)
- 97.2%
- data capture
- 2002
- active since
Modelled exposure readout
Manchester-Piccadilly's modelled PM2.5 is 1.7× the WHO 2021 guideline and NO2 1.8×, derived from United Kingdom's AEI adjusted for this BG classification.
- 8.3 µg/m³ PM2.5 modelled
- 1.7× vs WHO PM2.5
- 18.2 µg/m³ NO2 modelled
- 97.2% data capture
Background stations represent ambient city-wide exposure away from direct sources.
Stations with similar EEA profiles
Two cross-country peer sets for Manchester-Piccadilly. Same-country Read-with links stay above; these neighborhoods are nearest other-country stations by modelled PM2.5 and by EEA data-capture rate.
Similar modelled PM2.5
Nearest other-country stations by modelled PM2.5 (8.3 µg/m³ here), outside United Kingdom.
Similar data capture
Nearest other-country stations by EEA data-capture rate (97.2% here), excluding the PM2.5 peer set.
Modelled annual means for Manchester-Piccadilly
Modelled annual mean concentration by pollutant (µg/m³), derived from the national mean rather than this station's own series
- O3
O3: 56.7 µg/m³ modelled annual mean
56.7 µg/m³
- NO2 18.2
NO2: 18.2 µg/m³ modelled annual mean
18.2 µg/m³
- PM10 15
PM10: 15 µg/m³ modelled annual mean
15 µg/m³
- PM25 8.3
PM25: 8.3 µg/m³ modelled annual mean
8.3 µg/m³
What this shows For reference, the WHO 2021 annual guidelines are PM2.5 = 5, PM10 = 15, and NO2 = 10 µg/m³. This station's PM2.5 sits at 1.7× the PM2.5 guideline.
How Manchester's PM2.5 compares
This station's annual mean vs the national average and the WHO 2021 guideline
- This station
Manchester-Piccadilly: 8.3 µg/m³
8.3 µg/m³ PM2.5
- United Kingdom avg
United Kingdom national average: 9.8 µg/m³
9.8 µg/m³ PM2.5
- WHO 2021
WHO 2021 health guideline: 5 µg/m³
5 µg/m³ PM2.5
What this shows Manchester-Piccadilly reads below United Kingdom's national PM2.5 average. Both sit above the WHO health guideline of 5 µg/m³.
About this station
The Manchester-Piccadilly background monitoring station in Manchester is operated by Defra. The station code is an EEA identifier; concentrations on this page are modeled from United Kingdom's PM2.5 Average Exposure Indicator, not this station's own Dataflow E1a hourly series. As an urban background station, readings here represent the ambient air across the city away from any direct emission source, the appropriate reference for population-weighted exposure estimation.
Modelled annual means
These are modelled estimates, not this station's own reported readings. Each value is United Kingdom's national population-weighted annual mean, adjusted for this station's classification (background). Two stations of the same classification in the same country therefore show the same value. For this station's actual reported series, use the EEA datahub link below. Full rule: methodology §5b.
All concentrations in µg/m³ are modeled from the country PM2.5 Average Exposure Indicator, adjusted for this station's classification (code GB0599A) - not an independent per-station E1a reading. See our methodology for the exact derivation.
Source: European Environment Agency, Average Exposure Indicator (AEI) 2021-2023; station GB0599A (modeled).
Source: World Health Organization, Global Air Quality Guidelines, 2021 update.
Figures on PlainAirQuality are rendered from this site's database rather than typed into the page. Country values restate the EEA's published series and are held in our dataset pending an automated re-import; station-level values are modelled from those national means, not measured at the station. Every figure here is a MODELLED estimate, not this station's own reported reading: the national population-weighted annual mean adjusted for the station's classification (methodology §5b). Peak and exceedance-day figures are deliberately absent, because we do not publish a number we cannot source to the station itself. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.