SNOW finally arrived in Bournemouth and Poole on Wednesday – and more is forecast for the weekend.

At least 135 schools across Bournemouth, Poole and Christchurch were closed as of mid afternoon - see the Related Link below for the full list.

In the Western part of the New Forest only two schools remained open – Bransgore Primary School and New Milton Junior School.

The caretaker at Breamore Primary School, Fordingbridge, Terry Hobbs said staff were unable to make it in to work due to two inches of snow.

He said: "The roads are bad. Most of the staff were unable to get here. Without the staff it’s impracticable."

Cranborne CE VA First School at Cranborne near Wimborne, was forced to close after the boiler broke down.

Headteacher Pippa Rossiter said: "The primary reason we are closed is because of a boiler issue. We can’t heat the school today. There’s also one and a half inches of snow.

Bournemouth University, Brockenhurst College and Dorset Adult Education services were all shut, as were many day centres and some shops.

While heavy snow fell in other parts of Dorset and the Isle of Wight, coastal resorts escaped the worst of the Arctic conditions, but frozen pavements and icy roads posed a risk to pedestrians and drivers into the evening.

Met Office spokesman Robin Thwaytes said: "There will be one or two snow showers over Bournemouth and Poole at the weekend. We are expecting the wintry weather to continue for the next fortnight."

Email your snow pictures to photos@bournemouthecho.co.uk or text them to us at 80360. Just put BE in the message box, followed by your name and location.

We've bookmarked sites you'll need to check buses, schools and the weather. Click to see them.

The Daily Echo hosted a live blog on Wednesday, which we've put in standby below and will re-activate if the snow returns. If you can't see it click here for a feed of the updates.