A COUNTYWIDE clear-up was under way today after Hampshire was battered by severe storms.

Torrential rain and gale-force winds lashed the south coast, with fallen trees blocking roads and crushing cars.

Public transport was also hit hard by delays as ferries and train services were cancelled or delayed as a result of the worst storms to hit the county this winter.

Hampshire police received 150 weather-related calls during the course of yesterday as wind gusts peaked at 99mph off the Isle of Wight.

But there is worse to come, with Hampshire residents being warned that the weather is about to deteriorate.

Met Office forecasters are predicting that snow could hit the county early next week.

A spokesman said yesterday: "Despite the high winds and heavy rain, the temperature has been fairly mild.

"But that's all about to change at the start of next week and it will become a lot more wintry in Hampshire.

"Sleet and snow showers are a possibility as the temperatures drop considerably."

Chaos Meanwhile chaos was brought to the county's roads as fallen trees held up traffic across Hampshire.

Blown-over trees blocked roads in South Sway Lane in Sway, Salisbury Road in Calmore, and on the A337 towards Lyndhurst, opposite the Balmer Lawn Hotel.

Elsewhere, trees fell on power cables on the A27 at East Wellow and Summer Lane in Beaulieu.

Southern Electric engineers were working round the clock as up to 7,000 homes across west Hampshire suffered power cuts.

Temporary traffic lights in Cuckoo Lane were blown over and corrugated roofing tiles were dislodged from a house in Valentine Close, both in Fareham.

Winds also forced the closure of Suthampton Container Terminal.

It led to a build up of lorries at the Rownhams services on the M27 waiting for terminal to reopen this morning.

Meanwhile, one Southampton man got a shock when he was told that a tree had crushed his parked car.

Crushed car Richard Southwell, who owns the Goth Rock Shop, based at Solent Business Park in Millbrook Road, said: "The caretaker came down to see me and said he had bad news for me - a tree had fallen down and crushed my car.

"I was shocked - I wasn't expecting anything like that to happen to me.

"I've only had the car a few months and now it is probably a write-off - the tree has landed on the roof and taken out the sunroof and the windscreen."

The whole thing was captured on closed-circuit TV footage - and can be viewed on our website at www.dailyecho.co.uk.

The 39-year-old added that he was lucky not to have been in the £3,500 Skoda Octavia when the tree hit it.

He said: "It's safe to say I have had better days.

"It's lucky that I wasn't sat in the car when the tree hit my car. I'm just thankful that no one was hurt."