Driving in fog – safety advice as Met Office issue weather warning to motorists

The freezing fog has already caused travel disruption this morning with more flights being cancelled at Heathrow and tubes being delayed due to the lack of visibility.

Foggy conditions can be extremely dangerous for drivers, especially when they’re mixed with freezing cold temperatures.

Fortunately, if you follow a few simple tips to staying safe while driving in the fog, you can minimise the risk of accidents.

The Met Office has provided tops on how you can stay safe while driving in the fog:

Drive only when necessary

You may be tempted to drive to your local supermarket for a browse but is it really worth it when you can barely see the road in front of you?

When it is extremely foggy out, it’s best to avoid driving altogether and sit back and wait until visibility improves.

Even if you are a confident driver, there’s no sense in taking risks unless it’s an emergency.

Make sure your headlights are working

If you do have to make a journey, make sure you check your headlights are all working before you set off.

Also, check your dipped beams are turned on as sometimes car lights don’t automatically turn on. The dipped lights will improve visibility and allow other drivers to see you from a distance.

Many people often think that the brighter your lights are, the more you’ll be able to see but this is in fact not what you should do.

Instead, you should avoid using full beam headlamps in fog as the fog actually reflects the light back at you and so reduces your visibility.

Use your fog lights (but only when required)

All cars have fog lights so familiarise yourself with how you turn them on before setting out in foggy weather. They’ll only turn on with head lights so put them on first.

You should only use fog lights when visibility drops below 100m, according to The Highway Code.

If you’re not sure when that is, check if you can see the tail lights of the car in front of you. If you can’t, you should be using rear fog lights.

Then, when visibility rises above 100m, remember to turn off lights to avoid dazzling other drivers.

Some cars also come with front fog lights, which can usually be found in a car’s front bumper. They project a low, wide beam which cuts below the fog to help drivers see to the edge of the road when they’re driving slowly in foggy conditions.

You don’t actually have to use them unless the fog is extremely thick, as it only offers a small increase in visibility.

Drive slowly and keep your distance

This one’s obvious but it’s very important to keep your distance when driving in the fog and drive slowly because you never know what or who could be in front of you.

Turn the radio down while driving

You may be looking forward to blasting that new Ed Sheeran track on Kiss 100 but it’s really important you drive slowly, cautiously and with little or no distraction.

That means you may have to turn down the radio so that you can hear oncoming cars coming towards you while stopping at junctions.

It is also wise to keep your music switched off if you’re driving on the motorway so you can concentrate on what’s ahead of you.