Ferries were brought to a halt and flights in and out of Sydney Airport were cancelled or delayed by a thick fog blanketing the city in the early hours of the morning.
Transport for NSW advised early on Monday that all Sydney ferries had been cancelled. Buses replaced the Manly ferry services in both directions.
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Thick fog blankets Sydney
Sydney woke up to thick fog this morning, bringing a halt to ferries as well as flights in and out of Sydney Airport.
But the F3 Parramatta River ferries resumed shortly before 8am, followed by all other ferry services. Commuters were advised to allow plenty of additional travel time.
Three Qantas international flights – from Dallas, Los Angeles and San Francisco – were diverted to Brisbane, causing delays of about two hours.
About six domestic flights to and from Sydney were also affected, including Sydney to Melbourne, but Qantas customers were advised to check online as conditions were changing quickly.
The fog had also affected "a number" of Virgin Australia flights, a spokesperson for the airline said in a statement shortly after 9am.
The airline said it was "working to have all passengers on their way as quickly as possible. We encourage guests travelling this morning to check the flight status page for the most up-to-date information. "
Brett Dutschke, senior meteorologist at Weatherzone, said the fog started in western Sydney at about 9pm on Sunday before spreading slowly to the east and covering most of Sydney including the airport, where visibility was "very low".
Missing. One Harbour Bridge. Small reward offered. #sydneyfog pic.twitter.com/oGRjslNESW
— Sally Sara (@sallyjsara) July 17, 2016
"What makes this foggy morning stand out from others is that wind stayed so light for so long after that drizzly rain yesterday," Mr Dutschke said.
It meant there had been very little evaporation of rainwater from puddles, which had "cooled and condensed into fog".
"It's not unusual for fog to occur at least in western parts of Sydney and that's where it developed earliest and became thickest," he said.
He said the fog was likely to start clearing in some parts of Sydney from about 8am although it would linger in some suburbs until about 10am. Fog often took longest to clear in western suburbs around the Richmond area, he said.
Weatherzone is owned by Fairfax Media, publisher of this site.