(a–d) Distributions of three key meteorological variables in January and February of 2016, 2017 and the 7 years’ baseline from 2011 to 2017. (a) DEW. (b) Percentages of WD in 2016 and 2017 and also under the 7 years’ baseline. WD are combined into five categories (from bottom up): northwest (NW), northeast (NE), calm and variable (CV), southwest (SW) and southeast (SE). (c,d) Log CWS in north (c) and south (d) WD. (e,f) Contour plots of the joint distribution of CWS and DEW in 2016 (e) and 2017 (f). The colour of the dots reflects the PM2.5 concentration at the time of the observation.