A BLANKET of snow fell just before dawn this morning and caused traffic hold ups and school closures.

The early snowfall caused trouble for motorists on minor roads and the roads that have been gritted by Dorset County Council.

The council was warning drivers not to travel unless absolutely necessary, saying 10cms had fallen in just 45 minutes overnight.

The Dorchester Road A354 has been very slow from the start of rush hour and queues have stretched along Weymouth Way from Southill to the new Westham Junction.

At 10am on the A35 Dorchester bypass near Troy Town the traffic was reduced to 10mph.

The police were informed of numerous roads that became dangerous throughout the morning.

The coast road to Bridport was reported to police as treacherous at 6.30am.

Then a car skidded on the ice at the Blandford and Puddletown roundabout off the Dorchester bypass before coming off the road and hitting a fence.

The C12 Old Sherborne Road was reported to police as 'very bad' and more treacherous roads were reported at Sydling St Nicholas where roads were rapidly becoming impassable at 6.45am.

A car struggled to get up Dancing Hill at Sherborne on the A352 and then at 7.10am the A354 Dorchester Road was also reported as "treacherous"

At 7.49am residents in Maiden Newton said a car left the road and caused an obstruction on the A356.

The A10 and the A37 north of Long Ash Lane at Grimstone was blocked by HGVs which could not get any further and at 8.18am the A37 was reported as impassable for non- 4X4 vehicles.

Very bad ice was reported around Larmer Tree above Blandford.

Icy road conditions also caused problems off the A357 on Kingsmill Road near Marnhull.

At 9.38am the road to Blandford Hollow was closed due to ice from the A30 Babylon Hill Junction.

South West Trains said services on the Weymouth-Waterloo line were not affected by the weather conditions during the morning.

But a spokesman said the company was reviewing the situation regarding tomorrow's services when conditions are expected to worsen. A revised timetable is expected to be put in place for the weekend.

Frozen points on the network delayed one morning departure on the Bristol line but there were no reports of major disruption.

For the list of closed schools, see the link at the foot of this story.