Air pollution levels remain high in parts of the UK but forecasters have suggested they will fall later.
BBC Weather's Peter Gibbs said the pollution had "peaked" and "should go down quite rapidly" in the coming days.
Government data showed the South East, the Midlands and the rest of England north of there had the highest levels.
Meanwhile, the prime minister has been criticised for "misunderstanding" the problem and suggesting it was a temporary issue caused by Saharan dust.
The European Commission's environment spokesman Joe Hennon branded David Cameron's remarks "more than disappointing".
- Those with existing lung and heart conditions may find symptoms worsen
- They should avoid doing too much, especially outdoors
- Healthy people may experience minor symptoms such as a sore throat or a tickly cough
- They should avoid strenuous activity in order to reduce such symptoms
He told the Guardian: "To say this is a temporary issue caused by Saharan dust shows a clear misunderstanding of the air pollution issue.
"It's clearly an issue you would expect any government to deal with if it's serious about protecting the health of the general public.
"It shows that the problem is not yet understood and one of the reasons we're taking legal action against the UK is that they've not met the targets they agreed to. If I was living in the UK then I would not be happy about that."
Mr Cameron told the BBC on Thursday that he did not go for his morning run due to the Saharan dust, which he described as a "naturally occurring weather phenomenon".
The BBC's Rebecca Morelle said there had been a "horrible" mix of dust blown from the Sahara Desert, industrial pollution from Europe and UK pollution.
London and south-east England had the maximum pollution level of 10 on Thursday.
'Shoved' awayThe Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) reported that 18 areas from northern England to the South East were still gripped by high levels on Friday morning - ranging from seven to nine on the air pollution scale.
Air pollution in the East Midlands and the North West and Merseyside reached level nine, followed by Yorkshire and Humberside, and the South East with a level eight, and the West Midlands and the North East with level seven.
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Jay Wynne says cleaner Atlantic air will push away the pollution
But the BBC's Peter Gibbs said south to south-westerly winds on Friday should bring the UK "cleaner Atlantic air".
He said the wind would be "starting to swing around" by 08:00 BST and would continue "picking up the pollution and shoving it away out into the North Sea" for most of the day.
The 10-point scale for measuring air quality is used by Defra, with level one meaning a "low" risk of air pollution and 10 meaning "very high".
This pollution spell is nothing compared to the "pea-soup" fogs that blighted British cities until the 1960s.
Our air has become cleaner over the past century but at the same time we have learned how even low levels of pollution can pose a long list of health risks.
And although this episode is severe, it is not exceptional.
The Saharan dust makes it more visible than normal but breaches of international guidelines are fairly routine.
Last year one monitoring site in central London recorded 21 separate days when nitrogen dioxide soared above World Health Organisation limits.
One key pollution measure is of tiny particles called PM10, measured by the cubic metre over 24 hours.
Today a few sites in England are enduring levels of about 100. Last month Paris saw PM10 reach twice that amount.
And pity the people of Urumqi in the far west of China. When I was there last November, the air was so bad the airport closed. Today's PM10 level? An eye-watering 710.
Levels are determined by the concentration of five pollutants in the air - ozone, sulphur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and two types of particulate matter.
Asthma riskHigh levels of air pollution are usually reached about five times a year.
Defra advised people with lung and heart conditions to avoid strenuous outdoor activity while pollution levels remained high.
It also said people suffering symptoms of pollution - including sore eyes, coughs and sore throats - should cut down the amount they do outside,
Kay Boycott, chief executive of Asthma UK, said two-thirds of the UK's 5.4 million people with asthma "find that air pollution makes their asthma worse" and were at "increased risk of an attack".
The charity said asthma attacks were brought on by different triggers in different people, but urged anyone with the condition to be vigilant and follow basic safety tips in the coming days.
In February, the European Commission launched legal proceedings against the UK for failing to reduce levels of NO2 air pollution.
Friends of the Earth air pollution campaigner Jenny Bates said "thousands" of people in UK were likely to "die prematurely" this year unless the government took urgent action.
"Ministers, local authorities and the London mayor must get much tougher on the causes of air pollution - especially traffic fumes," she said.
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