A smoke room in a British pub was a dedicated, often spartan, room or designated area specifically for customers—traditionally men—to smoke cigars, pipes, or cigarettes while drinking. These rooms frequently featured bare wooden benches, ashtrays, and, in later years, basic ventilation. They served as a social hub for camaraderie and, in some cases, a male-only refuge.
From 1st July 2007, smoking became prohibited in all enclosed public spaces, including your pub, restaurant, or bar—no exceptions, no designated areas, no clever workarounds. This sweeping legislation covers all tobacco products, including pipes, cigars, and now extends to e-cigarettes in many establishments.
It banned smoking in all enclosed public places and work places when it came into force in England on 1 July 2007. Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales had already taken the plunge over the previous 18 months.
On the 1st July 2007, it became illegal to smoke in enclosed public places and workplaces in England, including work vehicles, hire cars and public transport. The legislation resulted in 1200 fewer emergency admissions to hospital for heart attacks in the following year.
Want a Smoking Lounge or Pub Shed - Tips on Creating One
Can you still smoke in pubs in the UK?
Smoking is banned in enclosed public spaces and places of work, with some exemptions. There is a legal duty for you to display a legible no-smoking sign where it can be seen by customers and staff.
This is because tobacco smoke is absorbed into soft furnishings and stays around for weeks after a cigarette is stubbed out, releasing particles hazardous to health. This means drivers are not allowed to smoke in their vehicles even if they don't have any passengers.
A type of smokeless tobacco that is made of finely ground or shredded tobacco leaves. It may have different scents and flavors and may be moist or dry. Moist snuff tobacco is placed in the mouth, usually between the cheek and gum or behind the upper or lower lip. Dry snuff tobacco is inhaled through the nose.
No, you cannot vape inside J. D. Wetherspoon pubs, as they have a strict policy banning electronic cigarettes and vaporizers throughout their premises, including designated smoking areas, to avoid confusion with real smoking and to keep staff from policing it. While vaping indoors isn't illegal everywhere in the UK, Wetherspoons chose to ban it to maintain a consistent rule and prevent staff from having to distinguish between vaping and smoking.
On 16 April, the UK parliamentarians voted for a progressive ban on tobacco products which makes it illegal to ever sell cigarettes to people born after 1 January 2009. The legal age for buying tobacco products would increase by one year every year until it eventually covers the entire population.
A man named Stefan Sigmond claimed in 1996 to have smoked 800 cigarettes in under six minutes using a special device to inhale from them simultaneously, but Guinness World Records rejected the stunt as promoting dangerous "gluttony" and not encouraging harmful acts, despite it breaking the previous record. While there are records of heavy smokers, like King Zog I smoking 225 in a day, Sigmond's feat remains unverified by Guinness due to its extreme and dangerous nature.
In U.S. political jargon, a smoke-filled room (sometimes called a smoke-filled back room) is an exclusive, sometimes secret political gathering or round-table-style decision-making process.
Smoking rooms reached their height in popularity in the second half of the 19th century. The fashion boosted by the addition of one at the seaside retreat of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert on the Isle of Wight in 1866.
Secondhand smoke is dangerous, especially for children. The best way to protect loved ones is to quit smoking. At the very least, make sure you have a smokefree home and car.
Is it illegal to throw a cigarette out your car window in the UK?
If you stub out your cigarette (or cigar or roll-up) in a public place and do not pick up the butt, you are committing a criminal offence by littering. It's the same if you flick the butt out of the car window or simply drop it on the pavement after you have finished smoking.
Many years ago, smoking cigarettes on trains and buses was considered a norm. The negative effects of passive smoking were not largely known in the 1970s and '80s, and smoking in public was not something that was considered out of place. So much so that you looked out of place in some places if you were not a smoker.
Smoking was allowed in certain carriages in trains until 9 July 1984. In the middle of 1987 smoking was banned for a six-month trial period in all parts of the Underground, and the ban was made permanent after the major King's Cross fire in November 1987.
Smoking in the office was common as recently as the 1990s (and in some offices, even into the early 2000s). In decades prior, smoking was ubiquitous in the office.
Smoking is legal in Dubai, but there are some strict rules on tobacco consumption, as the government aims to create a safe environment for everyone. In particular, you can't smoke in public places, from malls to offices and parks. The fine is now 500 AED which is around $140.
On February 25, 1990, the “no-smoking” sign was permanently lit on U.S. domestic airline flights – for the health of flight attendants and passengers. This eventually led to smokefree air on all flights to and from the U.S. and to smokefree policies for airlines worldwide.
The English explorer Sir Walter Raleigh introduced tobacco to England on July 27, 1586, when he presented some at the English royal court of Queen Elizabeth I.
