The great ship J.P. Morgan...

December 12, 2013 3:05 PM

Twenty-three lush, splendid photos of the fog that enveloped London yesterday.
posted by Mistress (17 comments total)

Fog is beautiful. It wouldn't compare to the fog-filled Grand Canyon from last week, but I used to work at a golf course with a lot of valleys, and one morning they were filled with dense fog that didn't reach about the tops of the hills. I was driving along on a mower, would crest a hill into crack-of-dawn sunlight, then drop down into all-enveloping grey, over and over again until the sun burned the fog away.
posted by The Card Cheat at 3:13 PM on December 12, 2013 [3 favorites]

I will never stop loving you, London.
posted by Kitteh at 3:17 PM on December 12, 2013 [4 favorites]

I sometimes have to get the early train to London from where I live in Cornwall, the earliest is about 5.30am. Getting up is made worthwhile by the 20 minutes of coast before Exeter but a treat early in the journey is watching the sun burn off the fog buried in the coastal valleys of East Cornwall and the little fishing villages get the first light of the day.
posted by biffa at 3:28 PM on December 12, 2013 [3 favorites]

Oh, that photo of the invisible Shard reflecting sunlight! That photo makes me want to write a whole fantasy novel around it.
posted by yasaman at 3:44 PM on December 12, 2013 [1 favorite]

I flew from Geneva to Paris in December a few years back, and as we flew on the downwind leg to CDG the only thing visible through the fog was the top of the Eiffel Tower. Coming into land we got lower and lower and just as we were about to enter the fog I experienced my first ever go-around - full throttle and and away we went for another circuit and another amazing view of the Eiffel Tower.

Such a trivial work-related journey yet such memorable images.
posted by jontyjago at 3:44 PM on December 12, 2013 [1 favorite]

Those are great! One of the things I like about living in New England is the occasional fogs which are often disconcertingly thick. I do love me some fog.
posted by GenjiandProust at 3:47 PM on December 12, 2013

Biffa, I am in Plymouth, let's have a mefi meet up next to the royal albert bridge and drink jail ale :)
posted by Mistress at 4:06 PM on December 12, 2013

The fog persisted outside London until early evening. Driving a train in it after dark... required concentration. Here is what I could see out of my cab window. That's my headlight beam dying in the mist and blackness... and that's it.

Fog is not allowed as an excuse for reducing normal speed. We spend three months or more learning our routes before they let us out on our own. This is a big part of why.
posted by Decani at 4:08 PM on December 12, 2013 [14 favorites]

Mistress: I do stop off in Plymouth now and again but the pubs around the bridge always looks rough as...the one with the big Union Jack looks designed for naval types to spill out of while worse for wear and looking for trouble.
posted by biffa at 4:38 PM on December 12, 2013 [1 favorite]

Fog! Yes! Finally a valid reason for people to use those stupid cable cars: to get amazing photos of weather.
posted by fight or flight at 4:52 PM on December 12, 2013

Biffa - the Plymouth side, Ferry house Inn is super chill and has tasty beer and food :) the drunk angry Marines stay in the Barbican!
posted by Mistress at 5:12 PM on December 12, 2013

Beautiful and mystical, thanks for posting. The ones with the buildings poking through remind me of Monty Python's The Meaning of Life; they look as if they could set sail.
posted by theora55 at 5:46 PM on December 12, 2013

I was was on an inbound to Heathrow; here's a grainy out-of-the-window shot with a point and shoot. It looks like the fog is coming from the east, it's interesting to see how it looks like it wraps around the Shard etc., and then ripples out on either side.
posted by carter at 12:08 AM on December 13, 2013 [4 favorites]

I'm based in suburban north London - it was very odd walking home last night. All the fog was pooling in the low ground, so a difference in elevation of just a couple of metres made all the difference between being able to see right to the end of the street and barely being able to see the other pavement.

(I have also been known to say that I find my neighbourhood particularly beautiful in the fog because that means I can't see any of it.)
posted by ZsigE at 4:18 AM on December 13, 2013

Wow. Moriarty should come back to see this.
posted by jfuller at 5:05 AM on December 13, 2013

Very fascinating photos. Funny how it's a big deal, when London used to be known for its (killer) fog.
posted by Atreides at 7:04 AM on December 13, 2013

We take you now to Kermit the Frog, with another fast-breaking news story!
posted by ZsigE at 7:28 AM on December 13, 2013