

In addition to limiting visibility to metres, such fogs made it difficult for many people to breathe. When this happened, no inhabitant of London could escape their impact. Usually, breezes carried away these smoke-filled fogs within hours or sunshine burned them away, yet occasionally they persisted and grew worse. The problem often reached its greatest extent during the winter months when chilly weather and diminished daylight prompted residents to increase their consumption of coal at the same time that these seasonal conditions increased the likelihood of foggy weather. Although it was plentiful, versatile, and cost-effective, coal came at a high price in terms of its impact on human health and the environment, as well as on the miners who risked their lives and lungs in the dangerous and dirty work of bringing it to the surface.īecause of London’s large population, its density, and its dependence on enormous quantities of relatively dirty bituminous coal, it had suffered from serious and year-round air pollution for hundreds of years, as well as repeated, though largely ineffective, efforts to combat the smoke plague. It also contained large quantities of fine particulates and acidic gases produced by the city’s millions of large and small coal fires.įor many generations of Londoners, coal (later supplemented by gas or electricity derived from coal) had provided residents of the British capital with nearly all of the energy that they used for heating, cooking, transport, manufacturing, and lighting. Much like people in our own time who refuse to accept the scientific consensus that human consumption of fossils fuels is causing climate change, many Londoners initially looked upon the fog as a natural occurrence that it was, to quote the title of this programme episode, an “Act of God.”Ĭontrary to Churchill’s assertions that the fog enveloping London was nothing more than an unusual weather event, experts had long known that London fog consisted of much more than water vapour.
#London fog weather or not drivers#
Lack of visibility brought normal life to a halt, with airports closed, rail service severely delayed, and road traffic extremely dangerous for drivers and pedestrians alike.
#London fog weather or not series#
That should reduce the overall level of moisture coming in and give the region a better shot at more widespread sunshine with less coastal cloud, drizzle, and fog.In December 1952, London experienced a catastrophe.Īs depicted in the Netflix series The Crown (which last year aired on Chinese streaming sites) the disaster seemingly came out of nowhere, as sunny blue skies suddenly gave way to a choking, blinding, fog that enveloped the city and was more severe than anything many had seen before.

Long-range guidance for those days show a weather front coming through with showers on Wednesday but would also shift the flow of air into the Maritimes to become more off the continent. There is the potential for a more significant break from the pattern Wednesday into Thursday of next week. Fog and drizzle around the Bay of Fundy coastline in New Brunswick and the Atlantic coastline of Nova Scotia.Ĭloudier conditions and more, persistent showers, drizzle, and fog are expected on Monday and Tuesday of next week.Ĭloudier and with more widespread showers, drizzle, and fog on Monday. More muggy weather along with a chance of showers Sunday. The highest chance of sunny breaks for New Brunswick (except the Bay of Fundy coastline), Prince Edward Island, interior and eastern areas of Nova Scotia including Cape Breton.Īreas that have the sun break through will still have a chance of a passing shower during the day though. During the days some sunny breaking through is possible. The nights and morning of the weekend will have the most widespread cloud, drizzle, and fog. There is little change expected for the general weather pattern for the Canada Day long weekend.Ĭloudy with sunny breaks, humid, and with scattered showers Saturday. Occasional downpours and thunderstorms have accompanied the showers.Ī flow of humid air from the southern Atlantic will continue through the weekend for the Maritimes.

The higher level of humidity is producing a muggy feel to the air, lots of cloud, showers, drizzle, and fog. The remnants of what once was Tropical Storm Cindy have also been feeding into our near-tropical levels of moisture as well. All week long, the region has been in a southerly flow that has brought humid air up from the subtropical Atlantic.
