Snow caused a standstill of traffic and cars being left on the roadside this morning (January 18), as well as school and business closures.
While all schools closed in the Western Wards, families took advantage of the day off to build snowmen, go sledging and take their dogs for walks along Warsash Common, Sarisbury Green and the River Hamble.
See the video of some of the traffic problems on Sarisbury hill this morning
Most of the shops in the Locks Heath Distric Centre remained open, including the Lockswood Community Centre and the library.
Traders headed to the centre early this morning ahead of the heavy snowfall, including Del Taylor, owner of Alexander Hadleigh wine merchants.
She said: “I got here at 6.30am to ensure I could get here. I wanted to make sure I’d get here before it all came down.”
A number of businesses were closed today across the wards – Titchfield Common, Park Gate, Warsash, Locks Heath, Sarisbury.
First Bus stopped all services across the Western Wards, as well as those travelling between Southampton, Portsmouth, Fareham and Gosport.
Fareham Community Hospital and surgeries remained open. But surgeries in Whiteley, Lockswood, Jubilee and Brook Lane were each one GP down.
Whiteley brought forward its evening surgeries to ensure the safety of staff trying to get home. The reception will be open until 6.30pm when the Out of Hours (OH) service takes over.
Lockswood is only offering emergency appointments. Jubilee has had numerous patient cancellations, so the practice has moved appointments around to accommodate these. It will close at 5pm and patients who call will be provided with a mobile number to call before phones switch to out of hours services.
Brook Lane also had a high number of patients cancel their appointments – around 50 per cent of about 150 patients.
Refuse, waste and recycling services did not take place because of the severe weather conditions.
Fareham Borough Council has advised residents to put their bins out next week for the normal collections.
Public toilets across the borough, apart from those at Fareham Shopping Centre, have been closed until further notice.
Ferneham Hall will be closed on Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 January, it will reopen at 9.30am, Monday 21 January.
This has meant the Mayor’s Charity Schools Prom due to take place has been cancelled. The council will provide details for a new date and refunds on Monday.
The cash office at the Civic Offices was due to close at 3pm today and the main office at 4pm.
Leader of Fareham Borough Council, Councillor Seán Woodward, said: “We are working hard to maintain as many Council services as possible during the adverse weather. I would ask residents to look for updates on our website, Facebook and Twitter pages for the latest information on what’s happening in the borough.”
Here is a selection of photos from readers and our own staff from today. Click one of the images to see the picture slide show. Thanks to Mel Walters, Lesley Barsby, Ann Whyntie, Lisa Cook and the staff at Universal Marina for their photos.
