SNOW has hit Dorset overnight with more expected throughout today accompanied by icy gale force winds.
Transport and schools were unaffected, but drivers are warned to take care, especially on minor roads wherre gritters may not have been. Bournemouth pier has been closed due to ice.
Light snow is expected to continue until around 3pm but the main problem is likely to be ice overnight.
A yellow weather warning is valid until 9am on Tuesday for Bournemouth, Poole and Dorset, with the Met Office advising that 2-5cm of snow may still fall over large areas of southern England causing disruption to travel.
Overnight temperatures of minus two degrees are predicted, which will feel like minus ten degrees until 6am on Tuesday morning.
Condor Ferries have cancelled their high speed sailings from Poole to the Channel Islands on Monday due to the adverse weather conditions.
Snow at Sturminster Marshall.
The Sandbanks Ferry is still running as normal.
Honey the labrador in the snow
The chief forecaster said the incoming weather, following on from a relatively mild week, is caused by a low pressure system from the Atlantic meeting cold air from the north.
He said: "There remains uncertainty about how far north the snow will spread, along with the extent of snow showers in the east."
But Dorset has been let off lightly so far compared with the storm that was orginally heading our way.
Channel Four weather forecaster Liam Dutton has blogged today about how much worse it COULD have been in a piece called "The snowstorm that missed Southern England by 100 miles." Until Saturday afternoon forecasters believed the south soast would be hit the hardest.
In the Channel Islands, which has borne the brunt of the storm, a red weather warning is in still place. Forecasters are saying it's the worst snow since 1979 and roads, airports and schools have all been closed. This picture, by Mark Stephenson, on Flickr, shows how heavy the snow has been.
Have a snow picture to send us? Email them to us at digital@bournemouthecho.co.uk, tweet them @Bournemouthecho or text them to 80360, starting your message with BE. Don't forget to tell us who you are and where the picture was taken!
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