ARCTIC Hampshire was one massive ice rink yesterday - and there's more freezing weather to come.

Emergency services have warned of treacherous conditions on the roads as last night's expected temperature, as low as minus three, caused freezing fog and black ice.

Motorists are being urged not to travel unless their journey is vital - and rail and coach passengers face long delays.

Police reported blocked roads all over the county and numerous traffic accidents as up to an inch and a half of snow fell yesterday.

A spokesman from the Met Office said: "The cold snap will last for another few days at least.

"More snow is expected, but it's difficult to say how much.

"The snow isn't melting as quickly as we would like, and ice is forming underneath.

"Combined with poor visibility because of freezing fog, conditions on the roads are extremely treacherous.

"Drivers should take extreme care and only go out where necessary."

Areas particularly hard hit were in the Meon Valley, still recovering from flooding, and Gosport.

Yesterday, on the M27 and M3 motorways, speeds were restricted to 40mph with only two lanes open in places until late morning.

Traffic chiefs defended their gritting policy as motorists complained that roads had not been salted.

A spokesman for Matt Macdonald's, agents for the Highways Agency, said trunk roads and motorways in Hampshire had been salted overnight.

"We started salting at 10pm on Wednesday night and have been doing so since then. There were difficulties in that there was very little traffic to melt the salt into the snow.''

Hampshire County Council's 42 salting lorries also worked round-the-clock to keep the county on the move.

A-roads were salted from 4pm on Wednesday afternoon with 500 tonnes of salt over 6,000 miles.

However, a unique combination of fewer users on the roads, due to Christmas, and a high water table, due to recent flooding, meant the salt was not absorbed as usual.

Lorries then moved on to the B and C roads and in particular concentrated on the New Forest where conditions were poor.

The AA in the southern region said it had been busy dealing with motorists who had run into problems, with engines seizing and locks frozen.

Spokesman Paul Watters explained why it appeared the roads had not been salted: "Traffic plays a role in the salting operations because cars help to melt the snow and the heat of engines also helps marginally to melt it.

"It has also been very cold and the lower the temperature the less effective salt is on the roads.

"There is also a lot of ground water around because of the flooding. There is no point putting salt onto roads that have been flooded because it just gets washed away.''

He added: "The motorways and trunk roads were also very chaotic because the snow had compacted."

Passengers on SouthWest Trains were hit by delays due to freezing rails and points.

Services affected included journeys between Southampton and Fareham.

At Southampton Airport there were delays and some cancellations caused by problems at other airports, such as Glasgow, which was closed.

In Gosport, police were forced to close a road after a bus slid on ice and crashed into a lamppost on Titchborne Way.

The driver was unhurt and the first police officers to arrive on the scene warned emergency vehicles to stay away because the road was so slippery and treacherous.

Inspector Pete Fuge, of Hampshire Police, said: "The driver was lucky to walk away from this accident without even minor injury."

The accident mirrored many on the icy roads throughout Hampshire.

In Southampton, a bendy-bus slipped on the ice, hit the side of The Ship pub, Victoria Road and caused damage to the guttering.

Farmers in the north of the county with snowploughs have been put on stand-by, but the snowfalls have not so far been deep enough.

Latest weather reports from the Met Office are that the snow is expected to last up until New Year's Eve.

However, there were some beasts which felt comfortable in the snowy conditions.

Penguins and the snow leopard at Marwell Zoo, near Winchester, made the most of the dusting of snow, which reminded them of home.

HOW TO COMBAT THE WORST OF THE WEATHER

WITH freezing temperatures forecast for days to come, householders are being advised how to keep the big freeze away from pipes. The Association of British Insurers suggests:

* Find your mains water stop valve and make sure you can turn it on and off

* Repair dripping taps

* Check that pipes and tanks in the loft are properly insulated

* Keep your central heating on if you are going away from home

* Turn off the water at the mains stop valve and header tank if you think pipes are frozen

* Thaw a frozen pipe gently with a hair-dryer or hot water bottle and have something to catch the water if the pipe has burst