The Met Office has firmly pinned the blame for the foul stench hanging over the south of England - dubbed "Euro-whiff" - on our continental cousins, the BBC reports.

Blighty is usually favoured by fragrant westerly breezes from the Atlantic, but an offending smell has over the past few days been carried by easterly winds crossing the lands beyond the Channel, and detected by sensitive Brit noses from Devon to East Anglia.

Victims describe it as resembling sulphur or manure, and the Met Office is now trying to establish the cause of the "apparent atmospheric aroma".

The most likely candidates are either "agricultural or industrial works in western Europe", we're told. And Thames Water was quick to tell the Beeb the stench was unrelated to domestic water or sewage systems. ®

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