A mysterious pong that wafted over vast swathes of the South East this morning is being blamed on easterly winds carrying malodours from industrial areas on the continent.

The 'Euro-whiff', as the Met Office is calling it, has been smelt in East Anglia, right across the southern counties and as far west as Devon since drifting across the Channel in the early hours of this morning.

Factories in areas of northern Germany and the Netherlands were the most likely cause of the whiff, which has described variously as like manure or sulphur, the cause of 'rotten egg smell'. There had been no increase in air pollutants, the Met Office said.

Britain is generally fanned by westerly winds, which blow in across the Atlantic and are free of pollutants, but occasionally - as a result of the way pressure systems are positioned - air from the Atlantic 'jetstream' can detour over Europe before arriving in the UK.

"The Atlantic is a very clean source of air, but easterly winds are prone to picking up odours as they migrate across Europe, particularly from areas known for heavy industry, such as northern Germany," a spokesman for the Met Office said.

The spokesman added that it would be rare for a biological smell - methane produced by cattle, for instance - to travel such a long distance, but it couldn't be ruled out.

Rain which begun to fall in parts of the South West had already "washed away" in some areas, but eastern counties could expect the stench to linger, possibly until next Tuesday when winds are expected to turn, he said. Rain expected to arrive from northern France overnight may also dull its pungency.

Steven Dorling, a meteorologist in the school of environmental sciences at the University of East Anglia, said that there was "nothing to suggest there's anything sinister" in today's smell.

He said the stench had not resulted from any of the pollutants traditionally monitored in air quality surveys, such as sulphur dioxide or ozone, and that the "first guess" was that it was agricultural in origin - possibly caused by the spreading of fertiliser, or by livestock.

Explore UK News

• Crime News

• Education News

• Health News

• Scotland News

Times Recommends

• Fern Britton: 'I still can't see that I was wrong'
• Extreme cooking
• Easy French: Tarte Tatin