THE SOUTH was battered by gale force winds yesterday - bringing traffic chaos and power cuts to the region.

Howling winds gusted at up to 80mph across the region throughout Saturday night and most of Sunday.

Nationally the death toll from the storm - the worse for 12 years - rose to nine.

Across Hampshire:

Scores of trees and branches fell, blocking roads and in some cases hitting cars

Large parts of the county - including parts of Romsey - were left without power

There were massive delays and

cancellations to South West Trains services through the region, and further disruption was expected today as workers begin repairing damaged power lines.

All Isle of Wight ferries - with the exception of the Red Funnel car ferry - were cancelled

In Southampton two people had a lucky escape when a huge oak tree branch crashed down on their car as they drove.

The foot-and-a-half wide oak tree branch fell on a red Ford Sierra estate - but amazingly missed them both by landing between the two people inside.

The accident happened as the car turned left into Burgess Road from the Avenue at about 11.40am.

The four-metre-long branch fell from a height of about four metres and caused severe damage to the car.

The victims - a man and a woman thought to be in their 50s - were rushed to Southampton General Hospital where the man was treated for head injuries.

Firefighter Dave Turner said: "It basically landed between them both. Had it landed a few centimetres to one side it could have been a very different story. They were very lucky."

Police said they received over 500 telephone calls from concerned members of the public on Sunday.

A spokesman said: "We have had hundreds of emergency calls - a lot of trees are down, roads are blocked and power lines are down.

"We have passed on the calls to local authorities and have been very busy dealing with road closures."

Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service handled over 150 calls for assistance from across the county. A spokesman said: "It was an extremely busy weekend for us."

In Southampton football fans faced major transport problems travelling into Southampton for yesterday's Saints vs. Fulham football match.

In Portsmouth Harbour the terrible weather caused the new Royal Navy frigate HMS St Albans to be in collision with a car ferry early on Sunday morning. No one was injured but the warship, with 37 sailors on board, sustained serious damage to its upper decks following the incident with the Pride of Portsmouth, which was carrying 980 people.

In Portchester a mini-tornado ripped through more than 100 properties on Friday afternoon.

Garage roofs were torn off, garden walls blown down and many home suffered damaged roofs.

The whirlwind, which only lasted for a matter of minutes, also picked up an entire garage off the ground before dumping it back down, said a Hampshire Fire Service spokesman.

David Thomas, 58, of Exton Gardens, said the whirlwind caused thousands of pounds of damage to his garden wall.

He said: "It was a short, sharp burst of activity. I heard a howling noise and saw leaves swirling around outside the window.

"It only lasted about 30 seconds before it moved up the street to cause damage elsewhere."

A spokesman for Southern Electric said 8,000 customers across the county were left without power yesterday.

She said flying debris and falling trees and branches caused the power cuts.

Large parts of Romsey were cut off, and last night 300 engineers were working to restore the power.

She said: "The conditions have been atrocious across the whole of the south of England."

The weather was predicted to improve today, but will remain unsettled.

Meanwhile, the insurance bill for the storms that raged across Britain is expected to top more than £50 million.