Brisbane weather: Fog blankets city as heatwave set to send temperatures soaring

Multiple domestic and international flights have been delayed or diverted as Brisbane woke to foggy conditions this morning, with visibility plunging to just 350 metres at the airport.

Fog across the Brisbane CBD skyline about 4.30am on Monday. Picture: Facebook/Hamis Alexander

Multiple flights in to Brisbane Airport have been delayed or diverted, as fog blanketed the city, reducing visibility to 350m.

The Bureau of Meteorology issued an alert at 5.50am warning residents to be careful on the roads.

“Reduced visibility in fog will make road conditions dangerous during Monday morning in the Brisbane Area,” the alert said.

PSA: Thick fog is temporarily preventing aircraft from landing at Brisbane Airport. A number of aircraft are diverting to other airports.

Departing flights are not affected. Please check arrival flight status with your airlines. pic.twitter.com/FJpwErSZqG

— Brisbane Airport ✈️ (@BrisbaneAirport) August 25, 2024

Multiple Qantas and Jetstar flights scheduled to land at Brisbane Airport faced delays of up to 120 minutes due to the conditions, while a number of international flights have been diverted to other cities, with visibility down to 350 metres across the airport.

Fog at the Brisbane Airport this morning. Picture: Geoffrey Clark

The fog started impacting arrivals from about 6.45am, but by 10am just one inbound flight – Jetstar flight JQ482 from Newcastle – remained hit by delays.

The AC35 Air Canada flight from Vancouver was diverted to the Gold Coast, while the SQ235 Singapore Airlines flight from Singapore and the EK434 Emirates flight from Dubai have both diverted to Sydney.

All departing flights have been on time.

The delays to arrivals were caused by authorities electing to slow movements on the ground by using holding patterns in the air to build more separation between the aircraft.

Further delays for passengers were anticipated on Monday, due to industrial action that is expected to see dozens of key workers walk off the job in a protest over wages and conditions.

It is forecast the morning fog will give way to a sunny day for Brisbane and the southeast. The maximum temperature expected across Brisbane is 31C on Monday with the chance of a thunderstorm in the west during the afternoon.

Sunrise over a fog-shrouded Brisbane this morning. Picture: Grant Batterham

During the week the temperature is expected to stay around 30C, reaching a high of 34C on Monday.

“The next seven days look well above average for Brisbane and much of Queensland and indeed most of Australia, really,” Bureau of Meteorology’s Harry Clark said.

“In Brisbane, 23C is the average maximum in August. So we’re sitting about 7C above average here.

“Quite significant but not quite record-breaking – the record in August sits back in 2009 where we got to 35.4C in Brisbane that year.”