The Met Office has warned drivers across a wide stretch of England and Wales to expect a difficult Tuesday morning commute, with dense fog forecast to cut visibility to below 100 metres in places. A yellow warning for fog is in force for 16 hours, from 6pm on Monday 9 November until 10am on Tuesday 10 November, covering 43 areas from Luton to Manchester.

The warning covers much of central England, North Wales, northern England and East Anglia. Areas named in the warning include Greater Manchester, Birmingham and the wider West Midlands, Nottingham, Leicester, Derby, Lincolnshire, Oxfordshire, Gloucestershire, Suffolk, Norfolk and parts of north and mid Wales, including Wrexham, Flintshire, Denbighshire, Conwy and Powys.

Forecasters say fog will redevelop during the evening and become dense at times overnight, with visibility widely falling below 200 metres and below 100 metres in the worst-affected places. The Met Office rates the likelihood of disruption as high, with a moderate impact expected overall.

Slower journeys and possible flight delays

Travellers should expect slower journey times, with delays possible on buses and trains and a chance of delays or cancellations to flights. Major routes through the warning area include stretches of the M5, M6, M40 and M42, along with A roads such as the A38, A45 and A50.

Drivers have been urged to allow extra time for journeys and to take care on roads where visibility drops suddenly. Fog can thicken quickly overnight, and conditions may vary sharply over short distances, so a clear stretch of road can give way to dense fog without warning.

High pressure behind the fog

Met Office chief meteorologist Jason Kelly said persistent high pressure had brought light winds and clear skies, allowing fog to form, while weak November sunshine had meant it was fairly slow to clear. Met Office meteorologist Aidan McGivern said in the daily forecast that poor visibility on Monday was thickening overnight.

The fog is expected to thin and clear during Tuesday morning as the sun strengthens, but the clearer skies will bring colder conditions later in the week, with overnight frost becoming more widespread as temperatures fall.

In Birmingham, the fog coincided with an air pollution alert, with still air trapping pollutants close to the ground while the mist persisted.

No further warnings this week

The Met Office warnings page shows no weather warnings in force from Wednesday 11 November onwards, with the rest of the week expected to stay settled under high pressure. The yellow warning remains the only alert in force on Tuesday, and it expires at 10am unless the Met Office changes or extends it.

Anyone travelling on Tuesday morning is advised to check the latest Met Office warnings and their transport operator's updates before setting out, as conditions can change quickly while fog is slow to clear.