Thick fog shuts down Australian airport

Multiple flights were cancelled and delayed as thick fog engulfed the city of Brisbane in Australia on Monday.

Disruption is expected to continue through to mid-morning, with all outbound flights delayed due to the morning mist and all inbound flights diverted 80 km south to Gold Coast Airport, Xinhua news agency reported.

Traffic conditions around the airport were also reported to be heavily congested and the city's water ferry service had to be cancelled for safety concerns.

In the south of the country, Melbourne also experienced some delays due to hazardous fog conditions.

According to Sean Fitzgerald, a meteorologist at the Brisbane Bureau of Meteorology, this is nothing out of the ordinary though for this time of year.

"As we move into winter, this is the main fog period for Brisbane," Fitzgerald explained.

"On the weekend, we had trough systems moving over and this leaves a lot of moisture behind when the trough system goes offshore, you then get clear skies and a lot of cooling overnight and it's the combination of moisture and cooling that leads to fog."

The phenomenon has seen thousands of people post images on social media platforms, showing Brisbane's tallest buildings almost entirely covered by the blanket of fog.

Unfortunately for Brisbane, Fitzgerald said: "I'm sure we will get more fogs in the future, this is the fog season and that will continue through most of winter."

--IANS

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