Recent hot weather has caused moderate air pollution but despite the smog in this picture, it could have been a lot worse.

Last Thursday the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Defra issued an air pollution warning after the Met Office forecast that temperatures could reach 31C.

But rainfall, which reduces air pollution, has meant that levels in Croydon stayed at moderate levels yesterday.

A spokesman for the National Environmental Technology Centre, which measures air pollution levels, said: "The air pollution levels haven't gone the way we thought they would because the weather hasn't gone the way the Met Office predicted. If there is more hot weather there's a possibility that levels could rise. But the current weather system that's brought the hot weather seems to be breaking up."

Last August Croydon suffered its highest levels of air pollution for seven years when temperatures reached 100F 37.8C.

Croydon Council has already spent thousands since 2002 on measures to reduce air pollution in London, including spending £200,000 on projects to encourage more children to walk to school and taking part in a London-wide vehicle emission testing programme.

The council is hoping to bid for more money so it can run its vehicles on water-diesel emulsion which will reduce pollutants and spend a further £303,000 on cycle lanes and parking schemes in the next two years.

Anyone concerned about air pollution should call the council's free air quality hotline on 0800 317 947 for pollution levels and health advice.