The Met Office has issued two yellow warnings for dense fog across Britain.
A large fog warning, in place until 11am, covers much of England and eastern Wales, while a separate warning, in place until 10am, blankets Northern Ireland.
The dense fog warning for England and Wales stretches from York to Bath, and includes London, Birmingham, and parts of Greater Manchester.
Visibility could be down to 50 metres or less in some places, with delays to bus and train services possible and a chance of flight cancellations.
Niamh Murray, Met Office operational meteorologist, said current weather conditions are the “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 told the Press Association.
“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 be quite stubborn to clear the next day.”
Dense fog on Sunday resulted in a motorway being closed for nearly 12 hours.
The M20 in Kent was shut both ways between junctions eight and nine near Maidstone after more than 30 vehicles were in a pile-up on Saturday evening, which seriously injured two people.
LATEST WEATHER NEWS:
- Fog warning issued across England and Wales could cause Remembrance Sunday travel chaos
- Temperatures forecast to plunge to -3C as the Met Office warns of ‘colder conditions’ ahead
- Wet end to October pushes rainfall above average as temperatures set to fall throughout November
And in Hampshire, the fog was blamed for a 19-car collision on the A303.
Heathrow has urged travellers to allow extra time for their journeys.
It said on social media: “Overnight fog has affected visibility on roads around Heathrow and conditions may continue into this morning.
“If you’re travelling to the airport, please allow extra time for your journey.
“We advise passengers to check with their airline before leaving home and to drive with care.”
AA president Edmund King previously warned fog could transform a familiar road in a “matter of minutes”.
He said: “One of the biggest mistakes is simply following the rear lights of the car in front.
“It can give you a false sense of security and means you may be travelling too close to react safely if that vehicle suddenly stops.”
Our Standards:
The GB News Editorial Charter
