Tampere in Finland and Umea in Sweden have the cleanest air in Europe

Umea in Sweden and Tampere in Finland have the cleanest air in Europe, according to a new ranking by the European Union's environmental agency (EEA).

Fine particulate matter, the pollutant with the highest impact on health in terms of premature death and disease, was also low in Funchal in Madeira, the Estonian capital of Tallinn and the Norwegian city of Bergen, the ranking found.

The air quality list was based on an evaluation of data from more than 320 cities in Europe, published by the EEA on Thursday.

Of these, 127 cities were found to have good air quality, while 123 had moderate pollution and 73 were rated poor or very poor.

Most of the cities which came lowest in the ranking were located in Poland and northern Italy.

323 cities in EU

The EEA assessed PM2.5 particulate matter pollution in 323 cities in 26 EU countries along with Iceland, Norway and Switzerland.

The ranking covered the past two years and did not include all European cities, with omissions due to lack of comparable data.