Snow leaves cars abandoned and hospital backlog

Motorists reported being stuck on the M3 for more than two hours

Snow has continued to cause problems in parts of southern England, with abandoned cars on roads and a hospital urging extra nursing staff to come in.

Dozens of empty vehicles belonging to stranded drivers could be seen in Basingstoke on Saturday morning.

The town's hospital has urged people not to use its A&E department if possible, after deciding not to discharge many patients.

The hospital said it expected a normal service to resume on Monday.

Cars have been left abandoned in the centre of Basingstoke

Motorists were trapped in their cars on the M3 on Friday evening after the motorway was closed westbound because of two jack-knifed lorries between junctions 6 and 7.

And the rail line between Basingstoke and Winchester was blocked by fallen trees.

The blockages on the motorway and railway have both since been cleared.

Buses struggled in the snowy conditions as they were driven out of Basingstoke Bus Station on Saturday morning

However, Basingstoke and North Hampshire Hospital said on Saturday morning that it was continuing to ask nursing staff to come into work if they could.

It said it had experienced a lot of pressure due to a combination of high demand and staffing levels caused by the icy and snowy weather.

Elsewhere in the South, Oxford City FC announced on Twitter that its football match with Woking had been postponed due to the "snow beating us".