Australia's largest city wakes up in foggy blanket

Australia's largest city woke up in a warm blanket of fog on Monday, delaying some international and domestic flights while bringing a key public transport system to a standstill.

Qantas' inbound U.S. flights to Sydney were diverted to Brisbane early Monday morning, causing a delay of over two hours for some follow-on routes, while up to six flights on the key Sydney-Melbourne corridor were also affected.

Locally however, commuters were suffering the most as ferry services across the harbor were cancelled, forcing passengers to commute on replacement buses on already heavily congested roads.

The fog started in Sydney's west just after 2100 local time (AEST) on Sunday night following a day of grey skies and drizzle, before spreading east to significantly impair visibility for harbor services and the Sydney International Airport, Weatherzone senior meteorologist Brett Dutschke told Fairfax Media.

"What makes this foggy morning stand out from others is that wind stayed so light for so long after that drizzly rain yesterday," Dutschke said, causing very little evaporation of the rainwater which then "cooled and condensed into fog".

By mid-morning conditions had begun to ease, with most services returning back to normal, with a complete disappearance of fog by 1030 local time (AEST), though some airlines are still experiencing delays. Enditem