4,000 southern homes without power

About 4,000 homes in southern England were without power today as snow and ice caused major disruption to electricity supplies.

A spokesman for Southern Electric said the number of properties affected had improved from the 20,000 experiencing power cuts yesterday morning.

He said the worst affected area today was around Petersfield in Hampshire, but problems were being experienced across the county as well as Surrey, Oxfordshire and Berkshire.

The spokesman added that the company had brought in 100 extra staff in advance of the snowfall as well as drafted in additional 4x4 vehicles.

He said: "We were geared up for the situation but access to rural areas has proved very difficult.

"As well as carrying out repairs, our engineers have been helping stranded motorists, so they have been working flat out to help people and to restore power."

The spokesman explained that the power failures were being caused by falling trees bringing down power lines or landing on the lines, triggering safety mechanisms which switch off the power.

He said the safety cut-off was also triggered when ice forming on the lines weighed them down.