Several flights were diverted and traffic almost came to a standstill across the kingdom yesterday (January 26) as thick fog blanketed the region.

Visibility was almost zero in some parts of the country and dropped to as low as 100m at Bahrain International Airport (BIA) between 2am and 8am, which was when the flights were diverted to and from Muharraq, said a report in the Gulf Daily News (GDN), our sister publication.

Infrared satellite imaging, available on bahrainweather.gov.bh, showed the fog swept in from the West before dissipating as temperatures rose in the late morning.

The dense morning fog is likely to continue today, according to Bahrain's Meteorological Directorate (MET).

"The lowest visibility recorded at BIA was 100m at 8am, but the visibility deteriorated to nearly zero in most other areas making driving extremely dangerous," said MET director Adel Daham.

"The weather will remain humid with light winds today morning which will increase the chance of fog formation, and therefore the meteorological directorate calls on citizens to be careful and cautious for low visibility."

Kuwait and Saudi Arabia were also heavily affected by the fog yesterday, which was responsible for several accidents including a crash in which five people died.

Kuwait International Airport shut down landing operations at around 1am and six flights were diverted to the Bahrain airport, while five flights were rerouted out of Bahrain due to low visibility.

"Six flights destined for Kuwait were diverted to BIA, apart from one going to Dammam," said Bahrain Airport Company yesterday.

"Five flights were diverted out of Bahrain due to poor visibility."

Meanwhile, social media networks were flooded with images of the fog taken by professional and amateur photographers.

One picture taken from the roof of the Swiss-Belhotel Seef showing the Manama skyline covered in fog went viral on Twitter.

"I work for a contracting company that is working on the final touches of the hotel in Seef and I went to the roof at around 7.45am to have a look and take a picture," Alganah Contracting engineer Lijin Joseph told the GDN.

"I didn't use any professional camera, I took the picture with my mobile phone camera only and it came out really well." - TradeArabia News Service