HAMPSHIRE was battered by high-speed winds and heavy rain yesterday as violent storms hit the county.

Wind speeds of up to 80 miles per hour were reported in the Solent as torrential downpours caused localised flooding.

The gales and heavy rain should ease off today according to the Met Office. However, the unsettled weather is expected to continue until Sunday with further showers and gusts of wind expected across Hampshire.

The weather left up to 40,000 homes across the south without power and Southern Electric brought in an extra team of engineers from Scotland to help restore supplies.

Up to 3,500 homes in the Alton, Alresford and Meon Valley were still without power this morning and 500 homes east of Ring-wood were also affected.

Electricity bosses hope to have restored power to all homes by lunchtime today.

Up to 160 homes in Dunbridge in the Test Valley also lost power after a tree fell on an overhead line.

Southern Electric received the first reports of the power cut at 3.30pm and were still working to re-erect the overhead line seven hours later.

A spokesman said: "Right across our patch in the outlying areas there has been quite a lot of damage done to the overhead electricity network.

"All our engineers are out on site working safely because conditions are not good. We can only put things back when it is safe to do so. We will do our best to get people back on."

Only two homes in Southampton were affected by power cuts. The city's cable network is all underground but still prone to flooding.

Temperatures across the county plummeted as the storm worked its way across the region. Temperatures of just 14 degrees C were recorded in Southampton - six degrees below the average figures for July.

Police along the south coast said they had been inundated with calls reporting fallen trees.

Hampshire's force urged the public to contact their local authority to get the trees removed and not the emergency services.

A Met Office spokesman said: "The heaviest rain was recorded south of London with the strongest winds along the south coast.

"The next couple of days will stay windy but the wind speeds will moderate from yesterday's levels. It will be Friday before we get rid of the system. It is a very disturbed picture until Sunday."