Fog causing travel and flight delays expected to continue until Tuesday

Dense fog blanketing most of the country caused severe delays at the country's main airports on Monday, with the National Centre of Meteorology expecting the conditions to continue until 9.30am on Tuesday.

Visibility was down to less than 200 metres in some parts of the country, causing havoc during the morning commute.

At Dubai International Airport (DXB), dozens of flights scheduled to land between 7am and 8am were in a holding pattern above the Arabian Gulf, according to flight monitoring website flightradar24.com.

Seven flights from DBX were cancelled, 38 flights experienced delayed arrival and around 190 flights departed between one to two hours late.

Dubai airport said that seven flights were also diverted.

“Low visibility caused by foggy weather conditions have disrupted normal operations at Dubai International this morning with seven in-bound flights diverted to neighbouring airports,” a spokesman said.

The spokesman added that Dubai Airports was working with airlines and other partners to minimise inconvenience to customers and ensure their comfort.

Flydubai said that the foggy weather conditions in Dubai caused delays and cancellations to some of their flights on Monday morning.

"We are continuing to monitor weather conditions in Dubai, we apologise for the inconvenience the adverse weather may have caused to travel schedules," a spokesman said.

Emirates airlines said: "Flights operating as per normal today – no cancellations or major delays."

In Sharjah, 34 flights were delayed for around two hours, with one flight from Lahore diverted to Muscat International Airport while 28 flights experienced one to two hour delays at the departure.

Arrivals to Abu Dhabi International were not as badly affected by the conditions. Four flights arrived one hour late, while one flight from Riga was diverted to Fujairah International Airport. 44 flights experienced a late departure.

Dubai and Abu Dhabi Police urged motorists to drive with caution on Monday morning while weather forecasters said conditions should clear by mid-morning, making way for windy weather in the afternoon.

The National Centre of Meteorology said it expected visibility to be less than 500 meters across parts of the UAE on Tuesday morning.