Overturned bus injures 17 as dense fog causes travel chaos in UK

By Kristina Pydynowski, AccuWeather senior meteorologist

December 30,2016, 10:25:17AM,EST

 

 

Seventeen people were injured on Friday morning in the latest accident to occur amid dense fog across England and Wales in the final days of 2016.
An Oxford Bus Company bus slid off the northbound M40 slip road near Thame in the early morning hours of Friday, according to BBC News.
The accident occurred at 02:45 GMT (9:45 p.m. Thursday EST). Weather observations at the nearby Benson Airport reported visibility down to 100 m (330 feet) at both 2:00 and 3:00 in dense fog with temperatures hovering a couple of degrees below freezing.
The driver and 16 passengers suffered injuries ranging from cuts and bruises to broken bones, the BBC stated. The bus was traveling from Heathrow to Oxford.


Thames Valley Police reported that the road was still closed at 11:00 GMT for barrier repair.
This accident comes a day after one woman died as more than 20 cars were involved in four separate crashes on the A40 in Oxfordshire on Wednesday morning, the BBC reported.
Dense freezing fog was observed at the RAF Brize Norton throughout Wednesday morning.
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Hazards to travelers were not only confined to the ground.
More than 280 arriving and departing flights at Heathrow Airport had been delayed as of midday Friday, according to FlightAware. Delays were averaging close to an hour.
“Fog will continue to linger across parts of the East Midlands and southern England into Friday afternoon,” AccuWeather Meteorologist Tyler Roys said.

Site of the overturned bus on the M40 slip road. (TrafficEngland.com/Highways England)
Travelers will face further flight delays and poor visibility. Roads could remain slippery where temperatures are still below freezing.
Roys expects the fog to lift into a low-hanging cloud deck, allowing visibility to improve overnight and into Saturday morning.
However, any breaks in the cloud could allow patchy fog to return.

A cold front with a spell of rain will push southward across Wales and England on Saturday night into Sunday, sweeping away the low cloud.
The unsettled weather pattern that will follow the front will prevent fog from returning during the first week of the new year.