Thick fog disrupts morning travel amid yellow weather warnings
Met Office warns of travel disruption as low visibility persists across England, Wales, and Northern Ireland.
Quick Look
- The Met Office has issued yellow weather warnings for dense fog across much of England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, causing travel delays and road accidents.
- Visibility is expected to remain low until Tuesday morning due to high pressure and atmospheric conditions.
AI-generated summary
Why It Matters
High pressure across the UK has created ideal conditions for dense fog formation. Smoke particles from recent fireworks and bonfires have exacerbated the density by acting as condensation nuclei.
Yellow weather warnings for dense fog remain in effect across parts of the UK as low visibility disrupts travel.
A Met Office warning is in place across much of England and eastern Wales and runs until 11:00 GMT on Monday. An additional fog warning has been issued for Northern Ireland running until 10:00 GMT.
The larger warning covers an area of England and Wales stretching from Canterbury to Cardiff, Hull to St Asaph and Southampton to York, and includes London, Birmingham and parts of Greater Manchester.
The Met Office has issued a further warning for fog from Monday evening into Tuesday morning.
Heathrow Airport has advised anyone driving there to allow extra time for their journey.
"We advise passengers to check with their airline before leaving home and to drive with care," it said on X, external.
Part of M40 southbound has been shut after crash between junction 1A near Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire, and junction one for the M25 link road.
Thick fog already blanketed parts of England and Wales on Saturday night, making an FA cup match between Altrincham and Notts County less of a spectator sport.
It also caused a 30-car pile-up on the M20 in Kent, leaving two people seriously injured, as well as a 19-car collision on the A303 in Hampshire.
The fog will gradually lift through Monday morning, although some patches could linger into the afternoon.
The Met Office has issued another yellow warning for fog from Monday evening across east and north-east Wales, parts of the Midlands, East Anglia and southern areas of Northern England.
It comes into effect from 18:00 until 10:00 GMT Tuesday.
The fog will once again become dense in places with the visibility dropping below 100 metres.
Difficult travel conditions should be expected on the roads with some delays to other transport also possible.
With a large area of high pressure across the UK, conditions are ideal for the formation of dense fog.
Temperatures overnight into Monday morning dropped to around 3 to 5C across England and Wales which meant moisture at ground level condensed into water droplets, creating cloud - which is essentially fog.
Light winds then meant fog was able to get denser through the night, leading to visibilities less than 100 metres on Monday morning.
Fog has been particularly dense and widespread on Monday morning because there has also been a lot of fireworks and bonfires over the last few days.
Tiny smoke particules act as extra cloud condensation nuclei which allows more water vapour being able to turn into droplets.
Patchy fog could also develop outside the warning area in northern parts of the UK wherever skies remain clear for long enough.
Mist forms in the same way but is less dense, with visibility generally greater than 1,000 metres (1km).
What to Watch
AI outlook — possibilities, not facts
Fog warning in effect until 10:00 GMT Tuesday.
Very likely · Within days
Open Questions
- When will all travel disruptions be resolved?
- Are there further accident reports pending?
