Thick fog disrupts UK travel with flights cancelled and motorway crash

Summarised from 6 outlets · 8 reports · Updated 9 Nov, 10:54 · Archive

Thick fog across the UK has caused flight cancellations at London airports and contributed to a motorway crash near Heathrow.

Thick fog has descended across the UK, causing significant disruption to Monday morning travel. Yellow weather warnings are in place for most of southern England, the Midlands, East Anglia, parts of Yorkshire, eastern Wales and Northern Ireland. The Evening Standard reports warnings cover London and most of the South East until 11am, while other outlets report warnings lasting until 10am in some areas including Northern Ireland.

Visibility has been severely reduced, with the Met Office warning that fog patches could reduce visibility to 50 metres or less in some places. Forecasters warned of difficult travel conditions, slower journey times, possible delays to bus and train services, and a chance of flight cancellations.

Disruption at London's airports was immediate. By 6.30am on Monday, seven flights from Heathrow and three from London City had been cancelled. Heathrow Airport warned passengers to allow extra time for their journeys and to check with airlines before leaving home.

On the roads, a two-vehicle collision on the M4 in west London near Heathrow occurred at 11.30pm on Sunday in the foggy conditions. National Highways confirmed the motorway was blocked between junctions three and four, causing three miles of congestion and delays of around 30 minutes. The road reopened in the early hours of Monday morning. Heathrow Airport cautioned drivers to take extra care in the low-lying cloud. The Daily Mail separately reported that on Saturday, a crash involving more than 30 vehicles closed a stretch of the M20 in Kent in foggy conditions, with two people seriously injured.

Niamh Murray, an Met Office operational meteorologist, explained the weather conditions to the Press Association. She said current conditions represented the 'perfect recipe' for fog formation. 'With autumn and winter we get much longer nights, and that allows temperatures to fall away,' she said. 'We get a longer period of cooling and also the temperatures are much lower, so they're much closer to the temperature that we need for the air to become saturated and therefore form fog. Another thing that we need to form fog is quite light winds, not absolutely no winds. We just have the perfect recipe at the moment: light winds, clear skies, long nights, to allow that fog to develop. And particularly if we see the negative numbers, it can be quite stubborn to clear the next day.'

The Independent reported that the fog was expected to thin and lift slowly throughout Monday morning, with some patches possibly lingering into the afternoon in central England and Wales. Temperatures were forecast to reach around 8°C in London and only 5°C in parts of Scotland before midday.

How it is being reported

• Fog envelopes large parts of England and Wales – in picturesMet Office issues yellow weather warning for fog across much of UK, with visibility severely reduced after conditions created ‘perfect recipe’ for dense mist Continue reading...The Guardian · 9 Nov, 11:30
• Fog shrouding swathes of UK likely to disrupt transport early this weekDrivers warned to take care as ‘perfect’ weather conditions for mist affect areas of England, Wales and Northern Ireland Thick fog will shroud much of the southern half of England, the eastern half of Wales and most of Northern Ireland throughout the early part of the week, forecasters have said, as commuters are told to expect delays. There was disruption to flights at Heathrow airport on Monday, while an incident involving 30 vehicles closed a major road in Kent on Saturday evening. Continue reading...The Guardian · 9 Nov, 10:29
• Thick fog threatens Monday morning travel as yellow warning issuedThe warning was in place from 6pm on Sunday and remains until 11am on MondayThe Independent · 9 Nov, 08:14
• Fresh fog warning for Britain sparks misery for commuters with flights and trains axedA yellow weather warning for fog, which stretches from York to Bath and covers most of the South East and eastern England, is in place until 11am.Daily Mail · 9 Nov, 07:45
• Heathrow and London City Airport flights cancelled as thick fog shrouds capitalYellow warning for fog is in place until 11am for London and the South-EastEvening Standard · 9 Nov, 06:32
• Chaos on busy UK motorway as crash in thick fog causes queues near Heathrow AirportThe incident late on Sunday evening came as a yellow weather warning for fog was put in place by the Met Office, and will be active until 10am on Monday.Daily Express · 9 Nov, 05:27
• Huge queues and 'thick fog' as crash closes motorway near Heathrow AirportThe road has since reopened, but experts have issued advice on how to deal with the adverse weather conditions as the fog stays in place until mid-morning on MondayThe Mirror · 9 Nov, 05:26
• Thick fog clings on across UK with commuters warned to expect disruptionA yellow warning for fog is in place until 11am for a large part of the UK.Evening Standard · 9 Nov, 00:01

In this story: Met Office · Heathrow Airport · London City Airport · M4 · M20 · Niamh Murray · Kent · Northern Ireland

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