THE ‘beast from the east’ and Storm Emma departed as quickly as they had arrived.

By Sunday most of the snow in Southampton and across much of Hampshire had melted as temperatures rapidly returned towards the seasonal average.

But as reported, weekend events were cancelled, libraries were closed, offices and restaurants were empty, diggers stood unused and waste collections postponed.

Hampshire actress Sarah Parish, 49, who lives near Alresford, was hospitalised after breaking a leg in a sledging accident.

She fell badly after standing on a sledge as if it was a snowboard. She posted from the Royal Hampshire County Hospital in Winchester: “Day 2 in Winchester Hospital. Looks like I’ll be operated on today,” she told fans.

“They’re putting a great big pin right through my shin!! No sleep last night, was on enough Morphine to knock the Navy out but still in pain. Note to self: cheap plastic sledges are for sitting in and gently trundling down primary slopes NOT a substitute for a stand up snowboard.”

Among the well-wishers was Bishop’s Waltham-raised actress Amanda Holden, who commented: “Darling, I just cannot believe this. Gin on its way.”

Now council leaders say they will analyse their response to the crisis and learn lessons for the future.

But Tory environment and transport spokesman Councillor James Baillie (pictured below) said he was “unconvinced” that city transport chief Cllr Jacqui Rayment did enough.

He said: “We needed people out gritting all through Thursday and they just didn’t appear to be.”

But Cllr Rayment denied the criticism and said: “We were gritting from 3am. We had guys sleeping in the depot to get the city up and running as quickly as possible.”

Hampshire’s 5,000 miles of road took a severe beating from the weather - but council leader Roy Perry said the “well-honed machine sprung into action with good partnership working.”

Including 100 farmers kept on a retainer and paid an hourly rate to help out, as well as 400 4x4 volunteers driving key workers to work, Cllr Perry said the £1m spent in 2011 on salt and grit boxes for residential streets had been used properly for the first time.

But one Hampshire hero disagreed - and criticised police, the council highways as well as drivers.

Peter Rockall, from Cheriton, said he spent 12 hours battling six foot snow drifts to help cars stuck in the snow.

The 35-year-old pre-school teacher said he was awake at 3am when he realised the severity of the situation .

He and friend Peter Sharp spent the rest of Friday towing cars in “really dangerous conditions” along the A272 up from Cheriton to Cheesefoot Head, the hill near Winchester.

He said: “There was a sign to say road closed but people had just pushed it over and were ignoring it. We pulled an elderly woman’s car up to the top of the hill but when I asked her if she was going for a hospital appointment or something but she said she was going for a massage. There were people saying they were going in shopping in Winchester.”

Spencer Bowman, vice chairman of Southampton’s Business Improvement District and owner of coffee shop Mettricks said he used his work 4x4 to make sure staff got home safely – but didn’t finish his drop-offs until the early hours of Friday morning.

He said: “I felt it was a pretty good response, but I thought the Itchen Bridge should have been closed – it was really dangerous. It probably would be worth looking at the plans for clearing the roads especially the main roads out of the city.”

One primary school stayed open on the coldest March day on record and despite chaos on the roads.

Children at St Anthony’s in Fareham said they’d had “the best day ever” while hundreds of other schools were shut due to heavy snowfall.

The youngsters spent the day celebrating World Book Day, toasting marsh mallows on an open fire outside and drinking hot chocolate - as well as having the inevitable snowball fight.

Headteacher Roxy Ashworth said: “We stayed open for those who get to and from us safely. There was little snowfall in Fareham until 2pm. Most of our children live very close to the school so could walk in.

“Student safety throughout the day was paramount to us and we watched the forecast and temperatures closely. This didn’t stop our fun however!”

Several events at the weekend fell victim before the thaw set in.

They included the 39th Romsey Model Railway Exhibition at Crosfield Hall.

Also cancelled at Above Bar Church on Saturday after a power failure was the public meeting with South Western Railway’s (SWR) Senior Stakeholder Manager Phil Dominey.

He was due to speak on the company’s recently awarded seven year franchise, its plans and what progress is being made with the consultation for service and timetable changes later this year.

The event was hosted by the Wessex Branch of Railfuture that promotes use and development of rail services. It is due to be rearranged at a date to be announced.