Freezing fog in many parts of the Republic yesterday made driving quite dangerous and caused many flights to be delayed or diverted from Dublin and Shannon Airports. Ministers returned from Cork by road rather than by Government jet because of fog.
A Met Eireann spokesman said the fog was quite heavy and widespread, except for some coastal areas. Freezing fog was a dangerous phenomenon, he said, especially for motorists, because it caused windscreens to freeze over, making visibility difficult while driving.
The fog is to continue today, particularly in the midlands, because there is no wind to move it. "The winds aren't strong enough to clear it. Only coastal areas are escaping. Inland is quite calm. At this time of the year there are no winds to burn it off," the spokesman added.
A spokeswoman for Aer Rianta said last night that from noon until 7 p.m. Dublin Airport had been affected by the dense fog, and 46 flights, mostly incoming, were delayed. "We do not see any sign of it improving and there have been a lot of delays, mostly in the region of two hours. The number of delays will increase during the night."
All airlines were affected. The delays depended on the type of aircraft. Some of the more modern aircraft were technologically equipped to get in but some of the older ones were not able to touch down and were diverted.
The situation was compounded because Manchester Airport was also hit by fog, which caused more delays.
At Shannon Airport yesterday there was considerable disruption of air traffic throughout the day. Hundreds of passengers were stranded while others were diverted to alternative airports.
At one stage, vertical visibility came down to 100 feet while visibility on the main runway was reduced to 150 metres.
Only aircraft which could land during what is known as Category 11 Operations, with visibility less than 550 feet, were able to use the airport in the morning.
The Aer Lingus flights from New York and Boston landed, but the morning Delta flight from Atlanta had to over-fly. Pakistani Airlines and Royal Jordanian over-flew to London. British Airways Express and Virgin also diverted to Cork.
Last night Ryanair said: "Due to severe fog across Ireland and the UK today Ryanair services were disrupted. It was necessary to divert flights and combine services to all-weather airports." Over 95 per cent passengers were accommodated, Ryanair said.