COLD snap chaos reigned on the roads of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight yesterday as more than 100 drivers came to grief in a 12-hour spell.

Police put the majority of the icy incidents down to "driver stupidity", saying motorists were failing to slow down to take account of conditions.

Forty crashes were reported between 4am and 9am. But by noon the number had risen to 93 and by 4pm the grim tally stood at an estimated 115 - averaging out at more than ten an hour.

A Hampshire police spokesman said only ten to 15 incidents resulted in injuries requiring the attendance of ambulances while the rest of the crashes were damage-only.

Early in the day police described conditions as "extremely hazardous", but said they were hoping things would improve as the day continued.

But the crash reports kept pouring in and a police control room spokesman said: "The majority of incidents are down to the icy conditions on the road and are mainly down to people's stupidity.

"The roads were gritted. The councils were going out all the time but people were just not slowing down. The sun was coming up and they thought all the ice was gone. But they were going into the shade and hitting isolated icy patches."

An AA spokesman said: "We come across far too many people who go onto the road and drive as though they have been gritted - sometimes they haven't."

He urged motorists driving in icy conditions to:

* Drive on every road as if it had not been gritted.

* Cut their speed.

* Allow enough road to take evasive action.

* Drive steadily and avoid accelerating hard or making jerky movements.

He added: "The watchword is caution. There may be patches of ice around the corner."

Meanwhile, weathermen said yesterday's maximum temperature in the South was just 3C.

New Year's Eve revellers look like they will have to wrap up warm if they are venturing outdoors tonight with temperatures likely to dip as low as minus 5C.