About air quality in Islington
Islington runs from Archway and Tufnell Park in the north through Holloway, Highbury, and the Caledonian Road / York Way corridor down to Angel and Clerkenwell. The principal NO₂ pressure tracks the A1 (Holloway Road / Upper Street) corridor and the approaches to King’s Cross. Background levels have improved since the ULEZ extension in 2023, and the Holloway Road site is one of the more closely-watched roadside locations in north London.
PM₂.₅ across Islington is driven by regional weather and transport patterns rather than local sources; on most days the borough shares air with Camden, Hackney, and Haringey. Monitoring coverage is dense along the A1 and weaker in the residential interior (Highbury Fields, Canonbury), so the borough-level verdict is most reliable along the central arterial corridor.
Last reviewed: 2026-05-18