Foggy Britain
21 12 2006Well, the Great Christmas Getaway has begun in earnest in England. But I feel a bit for those whose travel plans have been abruptly put on hold by none other than Nature.
Britain has been hit by a veritable blanket of dense fog, causing travel chaos at both Heathrow and Gatwick Airports. How well I remember the fog in England. It is very hard to describe it unless you have experienced it, but describing it as pea soup is not a misnomer. I remember once driving home from work through dense fog and being terrified, because literally it was almost impossible to see more than a couple of feet in front of you.It was like being wrapped in a blanket. And it was at night. The fog had fallen quite suddenly in the late afternoon and got thicker and thicker. My 20 min drive home took an hour, felt like 3, and I was gripping the steering wheel all every inch of the way home. Not only can you not see anything, you probably can’t be seen by other drivers either. Never have I been so relieved to pull into my driveway.
But today, I am happily not sitting at Heathrow Airport because my flight’s been grounded nor travelling up the M25 to visit my parents, but writing about it in Toronto. Big difference.
About 100 flights have already been cancelled and the disruption is due to continue into Friday. It probably couldn’t have happened at a worse time as this week has to be the busiest travel time of the year as millions travel home or abroad for Christmas. Now people either have to sleep at the airport, queue (for hours) or make alternative arrangements (if they can) to travel by rail. And of course, let’s not even imagine the travelling in this fog on Britain’s roads. Still, Brits will find something to laugh about in all this despite the disruption. It’s the good old British weather after all. As long as we don’t hear that it’s the “wrong kind of fog” 
You can read the full story on BBC News UK here and you can see some readers wonderful photos here . And because they are so wonderful, I’ve posted a couple here. It’s humbling to know that every so often, no matter what our plans might be Nature couldn’t give a fig. Nature’s in the driving seat right now, and all we can do is wait.
Enjoy these amazing photos of my foggy Britain, courtesy of the BBC
Warwick Castle in fog
Breathtaking!
Beautiful!
WOW! Looking at a couple of those photos, my reaction was simply “Dear God, I couldn’t imagine driving in that!” Then I remembered… I did drive in that at least one time I can remember. Some places in America can have fog that is that damn dense.
It was a time where me and a dear friend of mine were driving back from a road trip from near western Illinois towards Chicago. We were going steadily past a few “blink-and-you-miss-them” villages. All of a sudden, we passed into a thick layer of fog. We couldn’t see two feet past the hood view. Me being slightly insane, didn’t bother slowing down much during this. Imagine our suprise when the road’s median line suddenly took a sharp turn… and disappeared altogether! You should have heard the collective scream of sheer terror at that point!
Of course, the road was still beneath us, I slowed down considerably, and we had a big laugh at ourselves.
Ok… storytime’s over… back to my pizza. Cheers!
Chris - Aren’t they simply marvellous photos?
I’ve driven in dense fog on only two occasions in my life, one I described above, the other I was a bit closer to where I lived. Both were scary, even though I was driving below the speed limit, but the “white knuckle drive” described above was the worst. It was like driving with a blindfold… Luckily for me I wasn’t on the motorway (freeway) with some of those insane drivers
We live to the west of London (in the Thames Valley) and we’ve had fog for about three days. It’s a bit gloomy but also quite festive. Walking home last night, hubby and I saw what we thought were droplets of water on a tree. They were actually tiny little icles on the tip of each branch.
Not great for drivers but fab for lovers of nature’s beauty. :o)
Meant to say that is one thing that can be replied up, the reaction to the weather in Britain. If it wasn’t for the weather, strangers at bus stops, in banks and petrol stations would have nothing to say to each other!
And there are endless variations on the “wrong kind of …” joke.
we brits are happiest when moaning about the weather.
fogs are strange, the silence, sounds like the world is under cotton wool, sounds of cars are muffled and echoing.. its spooky, especially if the lights are orange, and the whole world glows and still..
(i live in the north of england)
Yes, the weather is always a conversation piece, particularly in England, but would you believe it we even do it in Canada! Moaning about the weather is a British pastime though. I guess it is the one thing strangers know they have in common
@ Rhea - yes, whenever the trains were late… and it’s uniquely British, lol! I’ve heard the wrong kind of leaves on the track, the “wrong kind of snow” (that was funny), the “wrong kind of sunlight” (which I could not work out), even the “wrong kind of rain.” I’m sure you can think of more. Don’t know how they had the gall, really
Whenever the trains are late? Whenever aren’t they - LOL. The fog this year was the thickest I can recall for many years. It’s quite spectacular in places around East Anglia and can create some stunning sunrises.