How thick is the thickest fog?

Water droplets in the air can reduce visibility enough as it is, but add pollution to the mix and things get much worse.


Asked by: Nina Cunningham, Oxfordshire

By definition, fog has a visibility of less than 1km, but it can get much thicker than that. The Met Office visibility scale runs down to a Category X fog, where visibility is less than 20m. If fog gets mixed with industrial pollution, it becomes smog and can be thicker still. TheGreat Smog of 1952 was so bad that it penetrated indoor areas anddrivers couldn’t see their own headlights!

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