HAMPSHIRE is waking up this morning to the aftermath of heavy storms that battered the south yesterday.

Today the clear-up was under way as workers cleared fallen trees from roads and railway tracks and repaired power lines brought down by high winds.

More than 400 calls were made to Hampshire Constabulary since 10pm last night related to severe weather conditions.

They were dealt with jointly by all emergency services during a period described as “an extremely busy night” by officers.

A spokesman for Hampshire Constabulary said the calls related to fallen trees, flooding, and incidents relating to the weather.

Passengers using South West Trains services face delays with all services closed until around 10am.

Engineers are carrying out track repairs and safety checks after the severe weather resulted in more than 40 fallen trees and flooding at six locations across the network.

Passengers are advised to plan their journeys and only travel if necessary as thousands of people head home for Christmas.

A spokesman for the South West Trains-Network Rail Alliance said: “Heavy rainfall and high winds have affected the rail network and roads in the region and had a serious impact on our services yesterday and this morning.

“More than 40 trees fell across our network yesterday, with eight falling in the space of just two hours last night, blocking lines and in some cases hitting trains.

"Yesterday's weather had a higher impact on our network than the St Jude storm and produced some of the most challenging conditions our frontline teams have had to cope with in many years.

“The past 24 hours have been very difficult for our customers and we are sorry they have faced significant disruption. It has also been a tough time for our employees across the network who have been working extremely hard in difficult conditions to keep trains running and to make sure arrangements were made for passengers whose journeys have been disrupted.

“This morning we will continue to clear tracks and carry out repairs. We will then run trains that check the lines are safe for passenger services and we are hopeful that services will resume at around 10am.

"We would like to thank customers for their patience while we carry out this essential work. Once services resume, we are confident that we will still be able to get all of our passengers where they want to be on our network today so they can spend Christmas with family and friends.”

Straight Mile Road in Ampfield, Romsey, is currently closed as engineers work to remove five fallen trees from the road.

Hundreds of homes across the region are without power, including parts of the village of Burley in the New Forest.

A large tree is blocking the road at Burnt House Lane in Bransgore.

There are warnings that more storms are on their way on Friday.