18 Jul 2024

Weather: Flights cancelled and delayed as fog hits Auckland again

12:16 pm on 18 July 2024
Fog in Auckland caused travel disruptions to planes and ferries on 18 July 2024.

Fog in Auckland affected flights and ferries again on Thursday morning. Photo: RNZ / Finn Blackwell

MetService says heavy fog in across the North Island will clear, with rain taking its place this weekend.

Fog caused disruptions in Auckland on Thursday, with ferry commuters warned to expect delays or cancellations.

Flights were also affected, with 19 flights cancelled leaving the city, and 24 arrivals also cancelled.

A Jetstar flight to Sydney Australia was also delayed.

It follows travel disruption from low cloud on Wednesday and on Tuesday.

MetService meteorologist John Law said the fog should ease over the next few days.

"We should find that fog clears off as we head through the daytime today," he said.

"And I think as we head towards the next few nights, still some rather cloudy conditions, but as the winds start to pick up I think we'll start to find things become less of an issue once we're through and towards the weekend."

Law said the fog was not out of the ordinary for this time of year.

"This thick fog comes through, particularly if you've had that warm air coming in from the north, all that extra moisture coming through, and as it goes through the nighttime that cools down and condenses to form that low cloud and fog which has been an issue for many spots through Auckland over the last couple of days."

Law said places like Northland, northern parts of the Auckland region, and Coromandel could expect rainy weather going into the weekend, with severe weather watches in place.

"Well worth keeping an eye on the forecast, although you may not find it's a foggy one, we have got some wetter weather tomorrow night," he said.

Recap the travel disruption with RNZ's blog below:

Get the RNZ app

for ad-free news and current affairs