THE SOUTH woke up today to scenes of devastation after the night's hurricane winds.

Hundreds of trees have been blown over and the destruction, along with flooding, is widespread.

It is thought to be the worst since the killer storm that hit the region in October 1987.

The storm began about 4pm yesterday - and continued unabated until about 8am.

It brought chaos to roads across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, with floods making many areas impassable. Hundreds of trees also came crashing down onto carriageways.

Homes in Chandler's Ford were flooded today after Monks Brook burst its banks in several places.

Eastleigh Borough Council said around six homes in Bodycoats Road had been affected and flooding was also causing problems at Fleming Park and the municipal golf course.

At one stage this morning, police were also considering closing Stoneham Lane and the Stoneham Way access onto junction five of the M27.

Allbrook Hill was closed to traffic and some homes in the village were flooded after water cascaded off surrounding land. Floodwater also collected in the road under the railway bridge near the Victoria Inn making it impassable for cars.

An Eastleigh council spokesman said they had received reports of some 25 trees brought down, with the Chandler's Ford area particularly badly hit.

One tree uprooted in Hocombe Road also brought down a lamppost and blocked the road. Brownhill Road was also blocked by a fallen tree.

The council was prioritising clearing the fallen trees, endeavouring to clear main roads first and then other routes.

Three chainsaw teams from the council's countryside section were drafted in to help highways staff and the council's outside contractors.

The spokesman said flooding had closed Tollbar Way in Hedge End. Woolston Road at Netley was also closed.

Hedge End police reported trees down across their area.

A huge number of roads in the New Forest were blocked by fallen trees or floodwater.

Residents in Kewlake Lane, Bramshaw, were cut off after both ends of the road were blocked by fallen trees.

They cleared one end of the lane by sawing up one tree and towing away another.

But they were prevented from reaching the main road because the Cadnam river had burst its banks, flooding part of Kewlake Lane and Wittensford Lane.

Their only other route, Cadnam Lane, was blocked by a fallen tree.

Part of Ringwood Road, Netley Marsh, was flooded to a depth of several inches, forcing drivers to turn back. A Forestry Commission spokeswoman said a car was stranded in a ford at Burley.

Police said one person had been killed and two seriously injured when a tree fell on two cars just over the Hampshire/Surrey border at Hindhead. The man killed was named as Cavin Parker, appointment secretary of Hampshire Rugby Football Union Referees' Society.

Mr Parker, who lived in Blackwater, was returning from a match in Portsmouth between Hampshire and the West Indies. Colleagues paid tribute to him as a "very friendly, hard-working and enthusiastic" man.

Hampshire police said they had taken more calls - 3,000 - than millennium night.

Meanwhile, nearly all mainline trains from the South were cancelled, making it virtually impossible for commuters to get to London.

At least ten schools across Hampshire were unable to open due to flooding.

Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service reported one of its busiest nights ever. Crews attended 80 weather-related incidents from 4.15pm yesterday to 8.15am today.

Spokesman David Askew said firefighters had dealt with 60 calls to flooding, ten calls to roofs and signs being blown down and ten calls to fallen trees.

"It appears the coastal stretch has taken the brunt of the bad weather, especially at places like Southsea and Lymington," he said.

"However, we have had trees down inland across the county and deep flooding in particular areas."

Exhausted control room staff were kept busy round the clock dealing with calls about everything from minor road accidents to gable-ends being blown down.

All services by South West Trains have been suspended, and most ferries operating in Southampton and Portsmouth have also been cancelled. Delays to flights to and from Southampton International Airport are also expected.