The East Midlands, East of England, North East and North West England, and Yorkshire and Humber are all under a yellow weather warning this morning as fog is expected to reduce visibility to less than 100 metres
Commuters are being warned to prepare for “dense fog” on the roads this morning that could cause delays to travel.
The Met Office has issued a yellow weather warning for eastern and western England. The warnings cover the East Midlands, East of England, North East and North West England, and Yorkshire and Humber.
The national forecaster explained that “fog will be dense in places and may lead to some travel delays”, including delays to journey times and slower bus and train services. The warning covers areas where airports are located, and there is the possibility of flight cancellations.
In places, the areas of fog will dramatically reduce visibility to less than 100metres (328ft). Over the course of the morning, the fog will lift and clear.
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The Met Office advised people to give themselves a better chance of avoiding delays by “checking road conditions, leaving extra journey time, or amending plans if necessary.” Drivers should also revise how to turn on fog lights and make sure they’re working before heading out in the morning.
“Bus and train services, as well as flights and ferry travel may also be affected; check for updates from your travel company and follow their advice”, the Met Office said.
“Be prepared for weather warnings to change: when a weather warning is issued, the Met Office recommends staying up to date with the weather forecast in your area.”
In a separate post, the forecaster advised that “travelling in fog can be extremely dangerous” as “fog can drift rapidly and is often patchy”.
“Warnings of dense fog are issued when visibility is expected to fall below 200 metres. Severe disruption to transport occurs when the visibility falls below 50 metres”, it said.
The forecaster issued specific advice for travelling in these conditions, which reads:
- Avoid travel if possible
- Drive very slowly with dipped headlights, full-beam lights reflect off the fog causing a ‘white wall’ effect
- Keep an eye on your speed, fog can give the illusion of moving in slow motion
- Use fog lights, but remember to turn them off when the visibility improves
- Don’t hang on the tail lights of the car in front, rear lights can give a false sense of security
- Watch out for freezing fog which is made of water droplets that freeze on contact with objects such as the pavement, road, car, etc. It can quickly form a layer of ice.