Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
National
Damien Gayle

Fog causes flight problems across western Europe – as it happened

Timelapse footage shows fog moving across the Thames

The fog blog summary

Well it looks like the fog has more or less lifted, although it still looks a little hazy outside. Here’s a summary of the big fog-related news of the day.

  • The UK and parts of northern Europe woke up to dense fog on Monday morning, with a number of airports disrupted due to poor visibility.
  • Heathrow “pre-cancelled” 45 flights, but later added dozens more cancellations as the miasma stuck around for longer than forecast, as airports up and down England faced similar problems.
  • Similar problems are expected tomorrow, with the Met Office predicting one more night of fog before wind and rain blow it away later on Tuesday.
  • Eurocontrol has so far recorded a cumulative total of nearly 137,000 minutes of delays to flights across the continent, 93% of which has been caused by weather.
  • Despite the chilly start, temperatures have rapidly warmed up almost to the all-time high for November recorded yesterday.
  • The eerie-looking weather provided many great opportunities for photographers, some of whom contributed their efforts to our GuardianWitness gallery.

Updated

The fog sitting on northern Europe caused massive disruption to flights throughout the continent today, but perhaps in centuries to come we will be worrying about the fog shutting down flights to Mars.

The Press Association has this story on how corrosive “vog” devours rocks on the red planet:

Choking London smog is bad enough - but it cannot compare with rock-devouring Martian vog. Scientists have found evidence of acid fog caused by volcanic eruptions on the Red Planet.

A similar phenomenon is seen on Earth in Hawaii, where it is dubbed “vog”.

The American space agency Nasa’s Spirit rover discovered signs of acidic vapour eating away rocks in Gusev Crater on Mars. Unusual rock outcrops across a feature called Cumberland Ridge bore small bumps, or agglomerations, thought to be due to minerals losing their structure and becoming less crystalline.

Instruments on the rover also revealed that something had reacted with iron in the rocks to varying degrees. In other respects, the composition of the rocks was identical.

Planetary scientist Dr Shoshanna Cole, from Ithaca College, New York, said: “That makes us think that they were made of the same stuff when they started out. Then something happened to make them different from each other.” Dr Cole believes the rocks were exposed to acidic water vapour from volcanic eruptions similar to the corrosive “vog” in Hawaii.

When the Martian vog touched the surface of the rocks, it dissolved away some of the minerals, forming a gel, according to the theory. Then the water evaporated leaving the agglomerations behind. “Nothing is being added or taken away, but it was changed,” Dr Cole added. “This would have happened in tiny amounts over a very long time.”

The more altered rocks, with larger agglomerations, were found in shadier spots on steep slopes facing away from the sun.

Previous laboratory experiments had shown that when Martian basalt rocks are exposed to sulphuric and hydrochloric acids, they lose their crystalline structure in just the same way. The findings were presented at the Geological Society of America’s annual meeting in Baltimore.

Updated

Despite this morning’s chilly fog, today has shaped up to be another warm one with temperatures approaching yesterday’s 22.4C November record, recorded at Trawsgoed, in Dyfed.

It could yet shape up to be a record breaker, but with dusk now approaching it’s looking unlikely, said the Met Office. A spokeswoman said: “As far as we’ve seen, [we’ve had] temperatures of just over 21C in two locations in Dyfed in Wales. That seems to be the highest at the moment at 21.1C. That’s a little bit short of yesterday’s 22.4C. We’ve probably got another hour before the temperatures start to drop again.”

And it’s not enough to make it the second-hottest day either, that was in Prestatyn in 1946 when it reached 21.7C.

Updated

The UK is not the only part of Europe that was shrouded by fog this morning. Here are some pictures from around the north of the continent, where air passengers were also facing delays to their flights because of the weather.

A cyclist rides through the fog along the Hamme River in the fog in Ritterhude, Germany
A cyclist rides through the fog along the Hamme River in the fog in Ritterhude, Germany Photograph: CARMEN JASPERSEN/EPA
Fog and smog swallow up the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
Fog and smog swallow up the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris Photograph: Jacques Brinon/AP

Updated

Great fog pics are still rolling in to GuardianWitness. The picture taken in Brighton this morning appears to show the fog rolling over a medium-rise building, while Blackfriars station, apparently modified by a well-chosen filter, looks like a bridge through the clouds:

@iseetigers

Thick fog over the Thames from a Thameslink train at Blackfriars station. You can just make out silhouettes on the Millennium Bridge but St Paul's has vanished completely.

Driving home along the prom in Blackpool, it seemed really strange not to see the iconic Tower in the distance. This was taken through the car windscreen.

The Scott Monument in Edinburgh in Monday morning's fog.

Hollow Trees Farm Semer

If you think today’s fog was bad, then rewind 60-odd years and we’ll show you a real pea-souper. In 1952, London was hit by the Great Smog, a week-long shroud of fog and pollution that contributed to the deaths of at least 4,000 people.

According to the Manchester Guardian, the so-called ‘London particular’ had ‘caused an unusual amount of footpad crime and burglary.’ Cars were abandoned by the roadside, trains were cancelled and rugby matches postponed, while the BBC made several programme alterations when presenters couldn’t make it to the studios.

A tugboat on the Thames near Tower Bridge in heavy smog, December 1952
A tugboat on the Thames near Tower Bridge in heavy smog, December 1952 Photograph: Fox Photos/Getty Images

There may be no fog on the Tyne (sorry) but there are a small number of delays and cancellations at Newcastle airport due to the gloom elsewhere.

Bristol airport has extended its fog warning until tomorrow warning and has urged passengers to contact airlines for information.

The weather is fine at Glasgow airport but fog elsewhere has caused some delays and cancellations.

Travel from Birmingham airport is improving, although there are still a number of delays and cancellations.

A small number of flights from Edinburgh to London, Amsterdam and Cardiff were cancelled.

A statement from London Luton Airport said it is fully operational but experiencing minor delays.

“Some arriving and departing flights are experiencing minor delays due to foggy conditions throughout the UK and Europe,” it said. “Passengers are advised to check the status of their flight with the airline.”

Why is it so foggy?

The blankets of fog across parts of the UK are known to meteorologists as radiation fog. It has nothing to do with radioactivity though. Common in the winter, radiation fog builds up when the land cools under clear night skies by thermal radiation. As the ground chills, so does the air directly above. And since cooler air can hold less moisture, the further the temperature drops, the more moisture condenses out to form layers of fog.

Several factors have combined to make the fog particularly thick. First of all, many parts of England had plenty of rain last week, making the ground moist. The warm daytime temperatures mean the air can hold more moisture than usual for November, so there is more to condense out at night. Added to that is the high pressure system over Britain, which has brought clear skies, making for cold nights and very little wind to disperse the fog.

Radiation fog normally lifts in the early morning when the sun rises and warms the ground. But thick fog can block much of the warming, causing it to hang around until noon or longer. The Met Office said that tonight will be the last night of extensive fog, as cloud, rain and wind move in from the south to disrupt what have been perfect conditions for fog to form.

The fog has stubbornly stuck to London throughout the morning and even as we move into the afternoon visibility (as gauged by a look out of the window) is still not great. Here’s a video from earlier this morning that purports to show the spike of the Shard piercing through the mist.

This beautiful view of the towers of Canary Wharf emerging from the fog has been sent in by Tacharin Muangmanee.

You can see all submissions received so far in our fancy interactive gallery, which is being curated by my colleague James Walsh.

Views of Canary Wharf our balcony.

Heathrow expecting fog disruption to continue tomorrow

Just to reiterate, Heathrow’s press office has said that disruption may continue into tomorrow.

The warning comes after the Met Office predicted that the fog would linger until after tomorrow morning before dissipating due to a change of weather. (As reported earlier on this blog.)

Gatwick is reporting about 15 cancellations so far today and, according to its spokesman, is expecting about 10% of today’s flights to be cancelled. Again, passengers are advised to check with their airlines before making their way to the airport.

Updated

The number of cancellations at Heathrow is now up to 74 this morning, a spokeswoman says. The airport typically handles around 1,200 flights a day.

Problems are continuing across Europe as the fog has not yet lifted, as was expected. Passengers are still asked to check with their airline before turning up at the airport.

The airport has updated its statement from earlier to make clear that disruption may continue into tomorrow:

Due to low visibility caused by heavy and persistent fog across the UK and Europe, passengers may experience disruption to their journey throughout today and tomorrow. Heathrow advises passengers to check their flight status with their airline before travelling to the airport.

We are very sorry some passengers will have had their journeys disrupted.

We’re not sure if this is from today, but here’s a video showing what foggy weather looks like from the perspective of an airline pilot coming in to land.

Pretty scary stuff.

Updated

You wanted pictures of fog?

To give you a sense of how poor the visibility was at Heathrow this morning, watch this video of passenger jets emerging from the fog to land.

In this video posted on Storyful, planes are seen landing in thick fog at Heathrow, London’s largest airport

Updated

A tragedy in the West Midlands where a five-year-old girl was found in a car wreck which killed her father. The ambulance service says she may have been there for some time, hidden in a ditch shrouded by fog, before she was discovered. My colleague Jessica Elgot has the story:

A five-year-old girl injured when a car crashed into a tree, killing her father at the wheel, may have been in the wreckage “for some time” before she was discovered, the ambulance service has said.

Police are appealing for witnesses after emergency crews found the girl in the back of the black Ford Fiesta.

The crashed vehicle was discovered in a ditch by two cyclists on Sunday morning in foggy conditions, who alerted authorities.

Her father, who was driving the car, was found dead at the scene on the B5030 at Crakemarsh, Uttoxeter, police said.

West Midlands ambulance service said the car had “suffered considerable damage” and it appeared to have been there for some time.

“It was very foggy at the time. Unfortunately, it was immediately obvious that the man driving had passed away. This was an extremely difficult incident for all involved including the two cyclists who made the discovery.

Why does fog delay flights? You might think the answer is obvious - because pilots can’t see the runway - but actually there is a little more to it than that.

A blog from NATS, the air-traffic control services company (actually written in 2013, but relevant today), explains that it’s actually because air traffic control can lose sight of what’s happening from the tower, forcing them to switch to radar to keep track of planes even as they taxi about on the ground. It goes on:

In foggy conditions, aircraft use the Instrument Landing System (ILS) at the airport to be automatically guided to the runway – they are effectively following the ILS beam all the way to touch-down. It is therefore important that we protect the beam from any interference, such as from other aircraft on the runway.

This means spacing between aircraft has to be increased, with an aircraft having to touch-down and taxi far enough away from the runway such that it no longer interferes with the ILS beam before the next one can be given landing clearance. Typically this means the spacing between aircraft has to increase by up to 50%.

Aircraft are also more widely spaced when manoeuvring or taxiing, whether they’re arriving or departing.

All this takes extra time, effectively taking capacity out of the airport with the end result often being delays to passengers sitting in the terminals.

Updated

People from across Europe (but mainly in London) have been sending in their foggy photos.

You can see all submissions received so far in our fancy interactive gallery

Traveling from Doha to London and amazed by the views over the City @ around 10 am.

Dull and damp at the house but 15 minutes walk up hill to warm sun and stunning views.

Here a lady silhouetted like me had to stop to take a photo. The U.K. Has completely disappeared all the way to the horizon apart from one farm on a hill just below us.

Peckham Rye is glorious at the best of times. There's always some spectacular weather anomaly that makes it a very mystical place. I think its because it sits in a bowl - high ground all around in the adjoining areas - and the Peck itself is one of London's hidden rivers, but it runs just below the surface of the Rye, enough for it to influence the creation of stunning mists and fogs. No wonder William Blake thought he saw angels in the trees here. Can't you?

Hay Bluff above the fog with the sounds of Hay on Wye muffled by the fog below

A Eurocontrol spokesman says there is significantly more disruption than usual to flights across Europe because of the foggy conditions today.

He said: “We have significant weather-related delays at a number of airports Paris and Frankfurt, and a number across the UK. It’s an unusual situation to have such widespread low visibility for such a long period.”

Eurocontrol’s Network Operations Portal, which gives Europe-wide flight information, is currently clocking a total of nearly 120,000 minutes of delays across nearly 23,000 flights, 93% of which is down to the weather.

There are no typical days, according to the spokesman, but he offered last Monday as a comparison, when there was about 24,000 minutes of delays across nearly 30,000 flights, of which about 10,000 minutes was due to weather-related problems.

“We have seen the weather has improved at some airports,” he added.

European airports affected by fog - the full list

This is a list of airports across Europe that are where passengers are facing delays due to the fog this morning, cribbed from Eurocontrol’s tactical update:

EDDF (Frankfurt)

Arrivals regulated due to low visibility.

High delays.

EGCC (Manchester)

Arrivals regulated due to low visibility RVR 300m with reduced rate.

High delays.

EGLC (London City)

Arrivals regulated due to low visibility.

High delays.

EGLL (Heathrow)

Arrivals regulated due to low visibility.

High delays.

EGLF (Farnborough)

Arrivals regulated due to low visibility.

High delays.

EGGW (Luton)

Arrivals regulated due to low visibility.

Moderate to high delays.

EGKK (Gatwick)

Arrivals regulated due to low visibility.

High delays.

EGSS (Stansted)

Arrivals regulated due to low visibility.

High delays.

EGHI (Southampton)

Arrivals regulated due to low visibility.

High delays.

EHAM (Amsterdam)

Arrivals regulated due to low visibility.

High delays.

LFPO (Paris Orly)

Arrivals and Departures regulated due to low visibility.

Moderate to high delays.

LFPB (Paris Le Bourget)

Arrivals regulated due to low visibility.

Moderate to high delays.

Some updates from airlines this morning:

Henry Hughes has tweeted me with this haunting photo of the sun straining through the fog, as seen from the train on his morning commute.

Here are some of the best press photos of the fog so far this morning:

Fog lingers over the River Cam, near Clare College in Cambridge
Fog lingers over the River Cam, near Clare College in Cambridge. Photograph: Chris Radburn/PA
London commuter trains emerge from the fog near Wimbledon station this morning
London commuter trains emerge from the fog near Wimbledon station this morning. Photograph: Amer Ghazzal/REX Shutterstock/Amer Ghazzal/REX Shutterstock
A British Airways plane can barely be seen through the fog at Terminal 5 of Heathrow Airport
A British Airways plane can barely be seen through the fog at Terminal 5 of Heathrow Airport. Photograph: Steve Parsons/PA
Grim-faced passengers queue inside Terminal 5 of Heathrow Airport, where 45 flights have been cancelled so far
Grim-faced passengers queue inside Terminal 5 of Heathrow Airport, where 45 flights have been cancelled so far. Photograph: Steve Parsons/PA

Updated

Met Office predicts another night of fog

The UK and northern Europe will see a third night of fog tonight, which is likely to have more knock-on effects for air travel across the continent, the Met Office has said.

At the moment the foggy conditions are extending across the south of the UK and northern France, across to the Netherlands and also into parts of the North Sea and Denmark, although it’s more patchy there, said Emma Sharples, a Met Office meteorologist.

She said there are two factors contributing to the fog formation. Light winds and high pressure are dominating northern Europe at the moment, while a lot of rain last week means that the ground is very damp.

“Fog is like a cloud on the ground and when you have cool air the moisture condenses,” Sharples said. “Because there is light wind, it’s not being blown away.”

Tomorrow winds are expected to pick up and some showery rain is coming in from the south, she added. “The rain stops the fog forming and it’s a bit more breezy as well.”

Updated

GuardianWitness is calling for your fog submissions. Share your beautiful - or deeply underwhelming - fog photos with us and we’ll publish them for the world to see.

Click here for the GuardianWitness contribution page

Sorry for the brief hiatus there. A fire alarm meant we all had to go out and experience the fog for ourselves. It’s still foggy here in Kings Cross - and cold.

Updated

A foggy Oxford Street in central London.
A foggy Oxford Street in central London. Photograph: Andy Rain/EPA

Traffic makes it’s way through dense fog between junctions 4 and 4a of the M3 Motorway in near to Frimley in Surrey.
Traffic makes it’s way through dense fog between junctions 4 and 4a of the M3 Motorway in near to Frimley in Surrey. Photograph: Andrew Matthews/PA

A spokesman for British Airways says that delays caused by the fog in the UK and other major European hubs are being compounded by the knock-on effects of fog yesterday, which means some of their planes and crews are not in the right place to operate flights today. A statement from the airline said:

We are doing all we can to care for customers whose flights have been affected by two days of heavy fog across southern England.

Heathrow Airport and Air Traffic Control have again requested that airlines reduce their flying schedules on Monday to maintain safety in very low visibility and we have complied with that request.

We are sorry for the disruption to our customers’ travel plans and are rebooking, refunding or rerouting customers from cancelled services as quickly as we can.

We would urge customers who are due to fly to or from London to check their flight status on ba.com before leaving for the airport and to only make the journey if they their flight is still shown as operating.

EasyJet’s spokesman sent this statement:

easyJet can confirm that foggy conditions at some airports are continuing to cause disruption to some of its flights today. This is resulting in some delays and cancellations.

The safety and wellbeing of our passengers and crew is always easyJet’s highest priority. All passengers travelling on cancelled flights have been given the option of transferring their flight free of charge or obtain a refund at www.easyjet.com

For all passengers due to fly with us from affected airports, we strongly recommend that they check the status of their flight on our Flight Tracker page at www.easyjet.com/en/flight-tracker for real time information.

While the circumstances are outside of the airline’s control, easyJet apologises for any inconvenience caused. We are continuing to review the situation and would like to reassure passengers that we are doing everything possible to minimise the disruption.

Eurocontrol reports 90,000 minutes of flight delays across continent

Eurocontrol, the pan-European air safety agency, is reporting cumulative delays of more than 90,000 minutes across the continent this morning, 94% of which has been caused by the weather, according to its situation dashboard.

I’ll try to speak to a member of their press team a little later for a bit of an explanation of those figures, but in the meantime the agency has sent this tweet:

Updated

Train lights in the fog as they make their way through London this morning.
Train lights in the fog as they make their way through London this morning. Photograph: Andy Rain/EPA

People are tweeting some beautiful pictures of the fog this morning.

As well as a warning for bearded men:

Heathrow has sent its official statement on the fog, asking passengers to check with their airlines to see if their flight is among the 45 pre-cancellations this morning.

Due to low visibility caused by heavy fog, passengers may experience some disruption to their journey this morning. Heathrow advises passengers to check their flight status with their airline before travelling to the airport today.

We are very sorry some passengers will have had their journeys disrupted.

Updated

Not all flights into London have been stopped, and one of the few that has made it in carried Sarah Wells, who managed to snap this incredible photo of the City’s skyscrapers piercing the shroud of fog.

Highways England is not reporting any particular fog-related incidents, although traffic is moving more slowly as drivers respond to the low visibility. The first Monday morning after the end of half term is always bad, and the fog is adding to that, a spokesman said.

There is a problem on the A14 westbound around Cambridge, caused by a “rather complicated meeting together” of two lorries, but that is not necessarily related to the fog, the spokesman said. It is foggy there, however, and police have been in attendance.

The spokesman said: “We would just give the advice to road users to always drive according to the weather conditions. It’s the start of winter and things like fog, heavy rain, storms and, at some stage, probably snow and ice, demand that you drive carefully according to the conditions. We would expect traffic to be moving slowly when it’s foggy because it’s the safe thing to do - that shows that road users are reacting responsibly.”

Drivers who are looking for more information should search “winter highways” on Google or Facebook for updates, the spokesman said.

Updated

Heathrow has pre-cancelled about 45 flights this morning and a spokeswoman advised passengers to check with their airlines before travelling. Extra passenger ambassadors are in place in all terminals to help travellers stuck in the airport, she added.

A spokesman for Gatwick also said passengers should check with their airlines before making their way to the airport. He promised an update shortly after a morning meeting on the current situation.

London City airport’s press officers were not yet answering their phones, but their social media team has sent this tweet:

British Airways planes on the ground at Heathrow Airport Terminal 5 on Sunday evening.
British Airways planes on the ground at Heathrow Airport Terminal 5 on Sunday evening. Photograph: Steve Parsons/PA

Updated

Fog shrouds English cities and affects airports across north-west Europe

Much of the UK has woken up to a blanket of fog for a second day this morning, causing rush hour havoc and a string of cancellations at airports around London, Manchester, Leeds, Bradford, Glasgow, Belfast and Cardiff.

According to the Met Office, dense fog was expected to become widespread across much of central and southern England overnight on Sunday, reducing visibility to less than 100 metres at times. It has issued a yellow warning of severe or hazardous weather for East Midlands, East of England, London & South East England, North East England, North West England, South West England, Wales, West Midlands, and Yorkshire & Humber.

The forecaster said it expected fog to “slowly lift and clear from many places through Monday”.

Foggy conditions across the continent are also reportedly having a knock-on effect on UK flights, with airports including Brussels, Frankfurt, Hamburg and Paris De Gaulle among those affected by low visibility.

Easyjet told the BBC that it was dealing with “major network disruption today due to poor weather conditions throughout Europe causing low visibility.”

“This has resulted in a large number of aircraft and crew out of place for flights today,” the airline continued. “In addition we are seeing a lot of Air Traffic Control restrictions which has resulted in some delays, diversions and cancellations.”

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Thailand moves to cut sugar in popular drinks amid health drive
Major chains agree to halve default sweetness, but street vendors and cafes remain outside sugar tax rules
The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Curious Kids: What is the smallest thing in the universe?
Curious Kids is a series for children in which we ask experts to answer questions from kids.
The Conversation
The Conversation
Social media can be addictive even for adults, but there are ways to cut back
Social media addiction has been compared to casinos, opioids and cigarettes
The Independent UK
The Independent UK
‘He was approachable, down-to-earth, irritating’: inside the real-life love story of JFK Jr and Carolyn Bessette
As Ryan Murphy’s new mini-series focuses on their explosive relationship, aides and experts explain the real-life couple behind the myth
The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
Stop waking up at 3 a.m. — these sleep gadgets promise to add an hour of rest and actually make you feel fresh in the morning
Beyond tracking, a new generation of sleep gadgets are here to help you fall asleep faster and wake up feeling more refreshed. Here's our guide to the tech that's shaping our sleep.
Tom’s Guide
Tom’s Guide
Guy shoots rap concert using a GameBoy camera. Don't believe me? Read this…
A man has used a GameBoy camera to photograph a rap concert, using a 3D-printed rig to attach his phone to the console to video himself
Digital Camera World
Digital Camera World
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.
Download on the AppStore Get it on Google Play