AFTER the autumn deluge comes the new year freeze-up. With flood waters still receding, people heading for work between Christmas and new year faced an icy cocktail of snow flurries and freezing fog.

Weathermen say there will be a respite as the weekend kicks in, but people should be prepared for a return to arctic conditions within 24 hours.

All this made for seasonal winter postcard scenes as roads and motorways were turned into ice rinks and long-suffering passengers on trains and planes faced more delays.

Yesterday people woke up to a thick blanket of fog - this caused more problems for beleaguered travellers.

A spokesman for the Met Office said: "Today there should be a respite - it shouldn't be too bad at all."

But arctic temperatures are returning to the South tomorrow.

A spokeswoman for Southampton Airport said: "At the moment it is looking fine - we are not expecting any more snow. Passengers should check in as normal. But if they are unsure, they should check with their airline."

A spokeswoman for South West Trains, said: "We haven't had any problems today. The anticipated snow didn't appear. It should be back to a normal Saturday timetable."

For London-bound passengers, this means two trains an hour.

The weather inevitably caused some mishaps and accidents. In Clanfield village, near Petersfield, power cables came down.

Fortunately Southampton General Hospital only reported a few more patients than normal due to icy weather conditions.

A spokesman for the Royal Hampshire County Hospital at Winchester said: "Thankfully there hasn't been a rush of ambulances to accident and emergency. We've had a few broken wrists and ankles and a few people brought in from road accidents, but nothing major. We also had a full house of staff in spite of the weather."

A spokeswoman for Hampshire police said: "We stress to motorists the importance of driving slowly and with extreme caution."

A spokeswoman for the Hampshire-based AA said the service had been around three times busier than normal, due to the weather.

Yesterday, the motoring giant dealt with 2,000 breakdown calls.

She said: "The roads were treacherous and, with the weekend on the way, it could get worse. Our advice is, only drive if it is an essential journey.

"If you are travelling locally, remember just because the white stuff has gone doesn't mean there won't be black ice - that is just as dangerous.

"Our message is: take extra care."