Drivers warned against making dangerous mistake as 'perfect recipe' for thick fog hits UK
From a near-invisible FA Cup penalty shoot out to looking out the window to, well, nothing, the UK has been hit by a thick fog.
As the Met Office says that conditions have created the ‘perfect recipe’ for this, weather warnings are currently in place until later this morning (9 November).
The fog alert came into place on Sunday evening and drivers are warned against making a dangerous mistake by using their full-beam lights today. Commuters are also urged to allow extra time to travel this morning, both by road and public transport.
The thick fog dramatically decreases visibility and so extra care is needed with the Met Office actually advising road users to ‘avoid travel if possible’.
Advert
Of course, this isn’t exactly always possible, so there is various tips for driving safely - like using the right lights.
Advice for driving in fog
It might be your natural instinct to use your full-beam lights when you’re struggling to see. But this is a very dangerous mistake to make as the Met Office explains it can cause a ‘white wall’ effect as fog actually reflects the light back.
Instead, it advises driving very slowly with dipped headlights.
The UK’s weather service also advises keeping an eye on your speed as fog ‘can give the illusion of moving in slow motion’.
It also recommends using fog lights but reminds the importance of turning them off when visibility does get better.
The Met Office warns against hanging on the tail lights of the car in front of you as ‘rear lights can give a false sense of security’.
And, it’s important to stay vigilant in looking out for freezing fog. This is made of water droplets that freeze on contact with the likes of the pavement or road and can quickly form a layer of ice.
Visibility in some areas of England and Wales could be down to 50 metres or less as the Met Office says delays to bus and train services are possible as well as potential flight cancellations
The ‘perfect recipe’
Met Office operational meteorologist, Niamh Murray, said the weather conditions at the moment make or this ‘perfect recipe’ for fog.
“With autumn and winter and getting fog during this time of year, we get much longer nights, and that allows temperatures to fall away,” she explained.
“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 (temperature in degrees Celsius), it can quite stubborn to clear the next day.”
The yellow weather warning for fog is currently in place until 11am.
Jess Battison
