Modern Mysteries

Mystery gas engulfs UK's East Sussex coast

By T.K. Randall
August 28, 2017 ·  16 comments

The mysterious chemical haze has since dissipated. Image Credit: CC BY-SA 3.0 Immanuel Giel The phenomenon, which caused streaming eyes, a sore throat and nausea in at least 150 people who happened to have been outside at the time, descended on the south coast of England at the weekend.

Authorities scrambled to identify the gas as residents were warned to stay indoors and close windows.

According to consultant toxicologist Dr John Hoskins, the most likely explanation is that the gas was actually traffic pollution that had drifted across the English Channel from France or Germany."Certainly it came across the Channel because it is in a peculiar part of the country to get anything that was generated in even the nearest large town, Brighton," he told Sky News.

"[It] was just a meteorological phenomenon, you have to know exactly how the wind blows. It seems the weather generally tends to push things into that part of the coast."

The hot and sunny weather was also thought to have contributed to the problem.

The effects of the phenomenon were even felt in towns as far as 20 miles away.

Source: Sky News | Comments (16)

Tags: Gas, Sussex