Shafaq News – Baghdad

Dense fog disrupted transportation and daily activities across Iraq this December, delaying flights, reducing road visibility, and contributing to the mounting economic and health toll of recurring extreme weather.

Between 11 and 15 of this month, fog forced Iraqi airports to suspend or delay 12 flights at Baghdad, Basra, Erbil, and Kirkuk, Transport Ministry spokesperson Maytham Al-Safi told Shafaq News, describing the measures as precautionary responses to sharply reduced visibility.

“What happened was [only] a change in flight schedules,” Al-Safi said, adding that no flights were cancelled outright, and airports recorded no financial losses.

Beyond aviation, fog spread across highways and urban roads, contributing to traffic accidents, slowing transport, and temporarily disrupting movement in some areas.

Also speaking to our agency, meteorologist Sadiq Atiya said fog in winter and dust storms in summer now impact Iraq mostly through “disruption to aviation and ports, higher traffic accident rates and lower daily productivity.”

Repeated episodes also carry health costs, particularly for people with respiratory conditions, increasing pressure on healthcare services, he added.

While many countries have invested in early-warning systems, satellite monitoring, and smart airport management to limit weather-related disruption, Iraq continues to rely largely on temporary measures, he said, citing weak planning, funding constraints, and “fragmented” institutional responsibilities.

Readmore: Mercy or misery? Iraq’s downpour restores hope

Those gaps translate into cumulative economic losses, according to economic researcher Ahmed Eid, as fog – and other weather phenomena – disrupt transportation and aviation, delay supply chains, reduce productivity, and drive-up healthcare costs.

“These losses do not appear immediately, but they grow with repetition,” Eid told Shafaq News, warning that forecasts pointing to continued weather volatility would require investment in climate-resilient infrastructure.

Iraq has experienced increasingly extreme weather in recent years. In April, a sweeping dust storm sent thousands to hospitals and forced the temporary closure of airports in Basra and Najaf.

Heavy rainfall and flash floods in other periods have closed roads and caused casualties, even as they helped replenish water bodies after prolonged drought.