Sea fog in Maltese coastal waters extending to around a 50 nautical mile radius to the southeast of Malta was detected by Malta Airport MetOffice using dedicated weather satellite channels at around 7 a.m.

In a statement, the MetOffice said sea fog can form when warm moist air coming from the south slides over cooler waters.

As the warmer air moving into the area cools, the temperature will eventually fall below the point where saturation and condensation occurs. At that point, sea fog begins to form over the coastal waters.

Light winds are also most favourable for sea fog formation. However, over the land the higher temperatures do not favour this condensation and the fog will slowly dissipate.

Predicting the exact time that sea fog will begin to dissipate is very difficult due to the combination of temperature, dew point, and winds needed to stop the fog formation process.

However, satellite data suggests that this fog is expected to diminish by noon today.