WHERE was everyone That's the question on people's lips as the great Bank Holiday weekend turned into a damp squib.

Organisers were left counting the cost of the bad weather as the expected huge crowds failed to materialise.

And those predicting doom and gloom on the roads had to eat their words as traffic flowed freely after the initial Friday night hold-ups on the M3 and the A31 through the New Forest.

Peter Coles, owner of the funfair on Southampton Common, said the turnout so far had been disappointing. He estimated only 4-5,000 had been to the fair on Saturday, with the appalling weather reducing that number to just 1,000 yesterday. The figures compared badly with the estimated crowds of up to 40,000 people who had visited the funfair over the four-day Easter period.

"The drizzly rain and cold have meant we had only a handful up here yesterday," said Mr Coles. "The teddy bears' picnic has been a bit of a flop. It's shame as it was in aid of the Rose Road charity."

Martin Fletcher, duty officer for the Forestry Commission in the New Forest, said things had been busy but staff had not been rushed off their feet as had been predicted. He reported that campsites were still offering pitches to latecomers up to yesterday afternoon.

An AA Roadwatch spokesman said the roads were unusually quiet for a Bank Holiday weekend although he warned they would become busy again this afternoon when people began to return home.

"Poor weather seems to have kept a lot of people indoors. The traffic yesterday was just like an ordinary Sunday, rather than a Bank Holiday," he said.

Even the weather forecasters were stumped as they predicted Saturday would see outbreaks of rain and very little sunshine while there would be more chance of sunshine yesterday.

In fact, Southampton put more traditional Bank Holiday weekend destinations in the shade on Saturday as it enjoyed the highest temperature recorded anywhere in the UK so far this year.

The thermometer touched 27 degrees Celsius (81 degrees Fahrenheit) and shoppers basked in the sunshine while parts of Devon and Cornwall were battered by hailstones and winds of up to 70mph. And yesterday Hampshire was cool and overcast with persistent drizzle.

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