The promise of warm weather and a long weekend has led to huge tailbacks on Hampshire's motorways today.

Drivers reported queues forming from as early as 11am along much of the west-bound M27 as people headed to the New Forest for the weekend.

Traffic jams had also backed up along the M3 all the way to Winchester as thousands of vehicles merged onto the M27 at Southampton.

Roads through the New Forest, espcecially the A31 and A35, have also seen queues with more predicted for later today and tomorrow.

Highways chiefs said they expected this weekend to be one of the busiest of the year on the roads, with people heading to the south coast to enjoy the sunshine.

However they also advised people to leave extra time for their journeys as traffic is expected to be extremely heavy on Hampshire's roads particularly this afternoon and tomorrow until around 3pm.

Meanwhile, the Met Office are predicting warm, sunny weather over much of the weekend, with temperatures set to climb to 24C or even 25C.