§ 36. Mrs. Ann TaylorTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what was the relative degree of acidity of the rain which fell on 27 April; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. MoynihanThe acidity of rainfall on 27 April measured by the national acid rain monitoring network (operated by Warren Spring laboratory on behalf of my Department) ranged from pH 3.33 in East Anglia to pH 5.86 in Northern Ireland. Data for 1986 show that an event as acid as that measured at East Anglia occurred only once in that year. As on this occasion events of high acidity typically follow dry spells.