In the 2015 winter month of December, northern China witnessed the most severe air pollution phenomena since the 2013 winter haze events occurred. This triggered the first-ever red alert in the air pollution control history of Beijing, with an instantaneous fine particulate matter (PM_2. 5) concentration over 1 mg m⁻³. Air quality observations reveal large temporal–spatial variations in PM_2. 5 concentrations over the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei (Jing-Jin-Ji) area between 2014 and 2015. Compared to 2014, the PM_2. 5 concentrations over the area decreased significantly in all months except November and December of 2015, with an increase of 36 % in December. Analysis shows that the PM_2. 5 concentrations are significantly correlated with the local meteorological parameters in the Jing-Jin-Ji area such as the stable conditions, relative humidity (RH), and wind field. A comparison of two month simulations (December 2014 and 2015) with the same emission data was performed to explore and quantify the meteorological impacts on the PM_2. 5 over the Jing-Jin-Ji area. Observation and modeling results show that the worsening meteorological conditions are the main reasons behind this unusual increase of air pollutant concentrations and that the emission control measures taken during this period of time have contributed to mitigate the air pollution ( ∼ 9 %) in the region. This work provides a scientific insight into the emission control measures vs. the meteorology impacts for the period.