Heading out in thick fog?
Cork has a river through its middle and a harbour on its doorstep, so fog is an old neighbour here. When a Status Yellow fog warning covers most of the country, the city and county won't be spared. Does that mean you should leave the car at home? Not always. But it does mean driving differently, and it's worth knowing how.
What yellow means
Yellow sounds mild. It's easy to shrug off. Met Éireann describes a yellow warning as weather that isn't a threat to the general population but can be dangerous locally. It asks you to check whether what you're doing, or where you are, puts you at risk. Driving through thick fog after dark is exactly that kind of activity. So the question is how you drive, not whether.
Lights first
Start with your lights, because that's where it's easiest to slip up. Use dipped headlights as soon as visibility drops, so you can see and be seen. Don't bother with high beam. The RSA says it actually shortens your line of sight and dazzles other drivers.
Fog lights are a different matter. Every new car since 1998 has to have rear fog lights, and there's a clear rule about when they go on. The RSA's guidance on fog lights says they're for dense fog or falling snow only, and they must go off when visibility improves. Its rough guide is visibility under 100 metres, about the length of a football pitch. Leave them on in lighter fog and you'll dazzle the driver behind, which is illegal.
Slower, and further back
As you drive into fog, check your mirrors, ease off and touch the brake pedal lightly so your brake lights warn whoever's behind. Then you'll want a bigger gap. The usual 2 second rule becomes 4 seconds in poor visibility. Don't sit on the tail-lights in front either. It feels safe, but you'll end up too close to stop, and the driver ahead might leave the road.
Driving in Cork city in fog
Cork traffic can feel like it's barely moving in fog, and that's no bad thing. At Cork roundabouts your ears matter too, so turn the radio off and drop the window a fraction to hear what's coming. Keep a sharp eye out for people walking, cycling or on motorbikes. Fog can be patchy, so don't speed up the moment it seems to lift. Coming out of the Jack Lynch Tunnel, you may find it thicker than when you went in.
On faster roads like dual carriageways, the RSA warns that dense fog brings the greatest risk of a pile-up. If you've to stop, put your hazard lights on.
Learning to drive? The roads you know from the Cork driving test routes won't look the same in fog. Is a foggy night the right time for a practice run? Probably not.
None of this is hard. Nothing here you can't do. Lights right, speed down, gap wide, ears open. There's more on Cork roads and how to drive them whenever you want it. If you're learning in Cork, there's more on learning to drive in Cork city and county. Take it slow and you'll get home fine.