Flights diverted, delayed out of Brisbane Airport as thick fog blankets River City

There were significant delays to flights out of Brisbane Airport this morning due to widespread fog that limited visibility and slowed tarmac movements.

Fog on the Brisbane River. Picture: X/Alison Rice PhD

Thick fog blanketed Brisbane this morning, causing major flight delays and visibility issues across the city’s roads.

According to the Brisbane Airport website, almost 20 domestic flight arrivals into Brisbane had been delayed this morning.

Eight flights have been cancelled however it is understood they are not fog-related.

A typical view from the Bureau of Meteorology's office in Brisbane versus the one that greeted staff this morning. Picture: BOM

A Brisbane Airport spokesman confirmed at 8:40am, that the fog had since cleared around the airport with visibility increased to 2.4km.

There were no further impacts to flights from the fog.

Earlier, the spokesman said some flights had to be diverted and that there had been significant delays.

“Departing flights have not been impacted by the fog, but there have been issues for some arriving aircraft as the fog has moved through in waves,” the spokesman said.

“So far five jets have been diverted, with three going to the Gold Coast and two to Sydney.

“Other services have been able to land, with visibility changing from minute to minute.”

Fog on the Brisbane River. Picture: X/Alison Rice PhD

Sky News Meteorologist Alison Osborne said visibility was as low as 100m at the peak of the fog.

“The fog has really dropped visibility quite low across Brisbane and Amberley airports sitting between 100m and 200m at worst quite early this morning,” Ms Osborne said.

“It is slowly starting to improve just looking at the conditions now with visibility between 300m and 400m now.

“It’s quite slow to lift there’s light winds and fairly cool conditions this morning.

“It is sticking around for ages, it is really grey with quite low visibility, it is a big fog, big pea soup.”

The Bureau of Meteorology’s Daniel Hayes said the fog affecting Brisbane and the southeast was expected to linger into the mid-morning.

“The presence of moisture, cool overnight and light winds has allowed that fog to be quite extensive through the southeast this morning,” the senior meteorologist said.

“We’ve had shower activity come through in the last 24 hours, so there’s been quite a bit of moisture into the atmosphere and then some clearer skies behind that as it’s moved through, allowed things to cool off a little overnight.

“We got down to 0 to 13 degrees, around the South East this morning, and the dew point temperatures are around about 16C. So our minimums have cooled off below that dew point temperature.

“So that’s why we’ve seen the fog form and yeah, quite extensive around the place.”

Mr Hayes said there is a chance for more fog tomorrow morning.

A Brisbane resident took to social media to share photos of their morning commute.

Ms Osborne said the several factors created the “perfect conditions for fog to form”.

“There was some very light showers across South East Queensland yesterday and overnight,” she said.

“Despite the fact that they were quite isolated, it definitely aided the buildup of moisture in those lower levels of the atmosphere where we are, and then a high pressure ridge is moving overhead so perfect conditions for fog to form.”

Ms Osborne added that the fog was not likely to clear until after 9am, creating chaos on the roads and causing flight delays.

“It obviously makes for quite dangerous driving conditions but also not the best conditions for aircraft either particularly at Brisbane Airport, so we are likely to see delays and potential diversions into mid morning,” she said.

Fog on the Brisbane River. Picture: X/Alison Rice PhD

A Brisbane resident took to social media to share photos of their morning commute.

“Fog is so strong over the river the bridge I had to be this close for (the Story Bridge) to be visible,” they shared on Reddit.

The Bureau of Meteorology posted a “typical versus current” view of the Brisbane CBD, warning residents to take care.

“Thick fog is blanketing the city and most suburbs this morning, with a road weather alert current - take care on the roads with reduced visibility,” the post said.

“Expect fog to clear by mid to late morning.”