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ANNEX
Meteorological description of four ' foggy ' periods
(Kew Observatory)
November 1954
Fog was first mentioned on the morning of Monday, 15th November, it was thick
from early morning until mid-day and again from 7.30 p.m. onwards. There was
frost morning and evening. The following day the fog continued until 4 a.m. and it
recurred in the evening. Similar conditions continued on the third day with frost
morning and evening. On the fourth day the fog continued throughout the 24 hours,
it was thick until mid-day and there was frost until 1.15 p.m. The fifth day was similar
with fog all day, thick in the evening but there had been a rise in temperature and
there was no frost. On the sixth and last day there was thick fog in the morning until
it lifted by 9 a.m. and the evening of this day was fine. A characteristic of this fog
was the prevailing high day-time temperatures—in the upper forties rising to 51.6°F
on the sixth day with, on the first four days, low night temperatures around freezing
point giving rise to frequent mention of frost.
January 1955
The 12th January saw a sudden fall in temperature, from day-time temperature of
52°F the previous two days to near freezing all day and down to 26.4°F that night;
there was fog, morning, afternoon and for a time in the evening. The second day
the temperatures continued low with periods of fog and mist all day; the third day
continued likewise. On Saturday, 15th, the day-time temperature rose to 43.9°F but
the night temperature fell to 23.5°F, there was fog in the morning, late afternoon and
evening, thick for two hours, and intermittent rain and snow during the day. Sunday
saw a rise of about 5° in both maximum and minimum temperatures so that the minimum
was only a little below freezing; there was fog again morning and afternoon and
intermittent snow afternoon and evening. On Monday, 17th the highest temperature
was 37.8°F. and the lowest fell to 27.3°F.; there was haze in the day and fog in the
evening with frost morning and evening. Tuesday and Wednesday remained clear of
fog until the evening of the latter; there was frost most of the day, temperatures from
a maximum of 38.39°F. to a minimum of 28 and 25°F. respectively. On Thursday
the fog from the previous evening continued until mid-morning followed by mist in
the afternoon. The last two days of this period, 21st and 22nd January, saw a rise in
temperature, of 16°F. at night to a minimum of 41.9°F., with practically continuous
fog on 21st, thick at times, and again on the 22nd until mid-afternoon when it cleared.
This was a protracted period of fog, eleven days in all, with mostly low temperatures
and much frost.
January 1956
On Tuesday, 3rd January, there was fog from early morning until late evening
with frost morning and night, temperature ranged from 41.4 to 32.7°F. The following
day saw mist in the early morning after a clear start followed by fog all day, thick
from 7.30 a.m. to 1.15 p.m. and again from 5 o'clock onwards; there was frost all
day with temperatures of maximum 41.2°F. and minimum 28.9°F. Thursday was a
day of thick fog with frost in the morning, temperatures ranged from 36.1 to 29.8°F.
The following day, Friday, was similar, except for a break from the fog in the evening,
it was thick until 7 a.m. and again between 9 and 10 a.m. Saturday, 7th, started with
some light drizzle followed by rain in the afternoon and evening ; there was some fog
from mid-morning until early afternoon and from mid-afternoon until the evening:
temperatures were—highest 38.8°F. and lowest 33.3°F. This was a period of intensive
fog, relatively short in duration and not so cold as the incident of the previous January.
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