Chance of showers but only moderate pollution for Olympic closing ceremony

 LONDON, Aug. 10 (Xinhua) -- The weather for the closing ceremony of the London Olympic Games this Sunday is likely to be in the middle of a spike¹ in air pollution, the British government air pollution forecast predicted on Friday.

With just two days to go before the closing ceremony on Sunday evening in the Olympic stadium in London, the increase in air pollution is unlikely to cause any problems to athletes or spectators as it is a rise to a 'moderate' level of 5 on the 10-point scale.

The latest air pollution forecast from the British Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) said, "On Sunday there is expected to be some northern European air reaching the UK, but it is forecast to be accompanied by showers."

The statement continued, "Pollution levels are therefore unlikely to increase above moderate levels across London and the south-east."

Dr Gary Fuller, a senior lecturer in air pollution measurement at the Environmental Research Group at King's College London, told Xinhua on Friday afternoon, "London can experience summertime smog when air circulates around over south-east England and the near Continent, which is just the sort of weather that we are starting to experience at the moment."

Dr Fuller said the pollution levels were "certainly not unusual" for this time of the year.

The Defra forecast predicted that pollution levels would fall back to low immediately after Sunday, as a new weather front arrived.

Weather forecasters also predicted some showers for Sunday, and Britain's national weather bureau, the Met Office, predicted the temperature would be about 21 degrees celsius² in the evening.

Met Office forecaster Aidan McGivern said, "The high pressure that has brought the fine conditions is starting to slip away, and by Sunday is edging towards Scandinavia and that allows a chance of showers to extend further north and east, perhaps affecting London."

In the afternoon of the closing ceremony there is a chance of showers, but the Met Office predicts this will have lessened³ by the time of the closing ceremony at 9pm.

1 spike   

n.长钉，钉鞋；v.以大钉钉牢，使...失效

参考例句：

• The spike pierced the receipts and held them in order.那个钉子穿过那些收据并使之按顺序排列。
• They'll do anything to spike the guns of the opposition.他们会使出各种手段来挫败对手。

2 Celsius   

adj.摄氏温度计的，摄氏的

参考例句：

• The temperature tonight will fall to seven degrees Celsius.今晚气温将下降到七摄氏度。
• The maximum temperature in July may be 36 degrees Celsius.七月份最高温度可能达到36摄氏度。

3 lessened   

减少的，减弱的

参考例句：

• Listening to the speech through an interpreter lessened its impact somewhat. 演讲辞通过翻译的嘴说出来，多少削弱了演讲的力量。
• The flight to suburbia lessened the number of middle-class families living within the city. 随着迁往郊外的风行，住在城内的中产家庭减少了。