Back in 1934 the Daily Echo carried an urgent, front page alert to its readers: “Here is a warning about a fiend. Fog will be general in the south again tonight.”

Behind these 16 words was a story of utter chaos as an impenetrable blanket of dense fog descended over Southampton and the surrounding area, resulting in people being stranded overnight, transport services cancelled, empty theatre and cinemas while the Isle of Wight was cut-off from the mainland.

Conditions became so bad during the November Monday evening that traffic was reduced to a crawl and many motorists were led by pedestrians who waved handkerchiefs in front of the cars. Dubbed “the fog fiend” by residents, local people including many who were forced to spend an uncomfortable night on the hard benches of the waiting room at the Hants and Dorset bus station which stood near Windsor Terrace in Southampton.

The Daily Echo told its readers: “Fog is a killer. Not only does the fiend take toll on the roads, it also ‘kills’ business. As soon as Southampton’s homeward crawl, there was no rush hour last night, was over, the streets became unusually deserted.

One manager of an Above Bar shop said: “We might as well have shut early in the afternoon for all the business we did as everyone realised we were going to have a real thick ‘un and went home early.”

Many homeward bound motorists found themselves bumping along the kerbs although no serious accidents were reported as conditions took a turn for the worst as the shrill whistles of policemen on point duty could be heard through the gloom. Some cars had twisted fenders and damaged wings as the result of impacts with trees and lamp-posts, but everyone was compelled to drive so slowly that no serious damage was done.

“It speaks well for the care and alertness of both drivers and pedestrians that there were no serious mishaps,” said the Daily Echo. “Sympathy went out to the tram and ‘bus drivers, for theirs is a terrible responsibility on such a night.

“Fog turned the Southampton waiting room at the Hants and Dorset Motor Services ‘bus station into an hotel last night, for intending passengers for Calshot who were unable to make the journey home. Southampton Corporation Transport Department must be congratulated heartily on the way it maintained ‘bus and tram services last night.

“A transport official said: ‘Our drivers worked splendidly and kept cheerful in a trying time and got Southampton home as usual. The worst delays were on the Butts Road bus service, where particularly thick banks of fog kept holding up the traffic completely’.”

Southampton theatres and cinemas felt the effect of the fog, too. Early evening performances were not too badly affected, for many people went straight from work to a show or a film, but there were many empty seats at most late performances.

“Those who had got home by crawling ‘bus and tram or who forced their way through the fog blanket in their cars or on cycles did not venture out again. And nobody could blame them!,” said the Daily Echo.

“It was one of the worst fogs Southampton has had for several years, and at times there was a visibility of only a yard or two.

“It was, as usual, much thicker in the heart of the town than out in the suburbs.”

The Clean Air Act of 1956 was an act of Parliament passed in response to London’s “Great Smog of 1952”.

It was in effect until 1964, and sponsored by the Ministry of Housing and Local Government in England and the Department of Health for Scotland.

The act introduced a number of measures to reduce air pollution, especially by introducing ‘smoke control areas’ in some towns and cities in which only smokeless fuels could be burned. By shifting homes’ sources of heat towards cleaner coals, electricity, and gas, it reduced the amount of smoke pollution and sulphur dioxide from household fires.

Reinforcing these changes, the act also included measures to relocate power stations away from cities, and for the height of some chimneys to be increased.

Although it caused major disruption due to the effect on visibility, and even penetrated indoor areas, the “Great Smog” was not thought to be a significant event at the time, with London having experienced many smogs in the past, so-called “pea soupers”.

Government medical reports estimated that up to 4,000 people had died prematurely and 100,000 more were made ill because of the smog’s effects, however more recent research suggests the total number of fatalities was considerably greater, at about 12,000.