HEAVY fog put a dampener on travel plans, causing major delays and baggage pile-ups at Newcastle Airport on Monday.
Passengers to and from Newcastle were delayed for hours as they waited for the fog to clear - with one plane from Brisbane reportedly being diverted to Sydney.
Merewether resident Mitchell Pooley was caught in the congestion, after his first flight back from Melbourne was cancelled late on Sunday afternoon.
"You were caught between a rock and a hard place, because you physically had no control over the external factors," he said.
"It was pretty frustrating because our flight had already been cancelled the night before due to 'operational issues' and we had to find accommodation at the last minute - so to arrive at the airport at 5:30am and not be able to leave for Newcastle until after 11am was painful.
"Obviously there isn't much they can do about the weather conditions and most people accepted that, but when we did arrive in Newcastle there was a hold up with about four flights waiting for bags at the same time, which I assume had also been delayed from elsewhere."
A statement from Newcastle Airport acknowledged there were extensive delays due to fog, urging passengers to check with their airline for flight departures and arrivals.
It was a chilly start to the week with temperatures hovering below 10 degrees.
Scone recorded a temperature of 6.2 degrees, while Nobbys hit 8.5 and Maitland reached just 9.7 degrees.
The cooler temperatures are expected to continue today, with a 70 per cent chance of showers across Newcastle and the chance of a thunderstorm in the morning and early afternoon.
Conditions should improve through Wednesday and Thursday, as the mercury rises to a maximum of about 19 degrees.
Rain is expected again on Friday and Saturday, while Sunday is likely to be mostly sunny.
