There was chaos on the roads in the Midhurst and Petworth area when the worst snow storm for more than four decades brought traffic to a standstill on Tuesday night.
Yesterday schools throughout the area were closed and businesses were badly affected with employees unable to reach work.
Motorists were stranded for several hours in gridlocked traffic on the A272.
The A286 was closed on Cocking Hill as cars s
kidded to a halt in treacherous conditions and the roads around Petworth were described as 'lethal'.
Motorists trying to get home from Midhurst towards Haslemere had to abandon their cars on Henley Hill.
Many people walked for miles in snow eight inches deep in places.
Ambulances were unable to reach road traffic accidents and Midhurst fire engines had to fight through roads littered with abandoned cars and fallen trees to reach emergencies.
Station commander Nigel Gamblen at Midhurst fire station said: "Conditions were absolutely dreadful. It started around 5.30pm on Tuesday and we were busy through the night.
"We were called to a fire at Highfield School in Liphook but we were forced to turn back because we couldn't get through the abandoned cars and fallen trees. It was a complete nightmare."
Just before 7pm, Midhurst firefighters battled through the snow to rescue a woman motorist who had skidded into a wall in Milland Lane at Milland. The fire service Land Rover had to transport her to the ambulance on the main road as it was unable to reach her.
Just after 10.30pm, they were called to a car crash outside the Black Fox in Milland. This time the fire service Land Rover took two injured motorists to St Richard's Hospital in Chichester when the ambulance was unable to negotiate the treacherous roads.
One ambulance crew was left stranded on the former A3 at Rake when they attempted to answer an emergency call to a crash.
Yesterday the weather had not improved and Mr Gamblen said: "We are still having a nightmare, all the side roads are completely impassable and we can't go anywhere without the Land Rover.
At Petworth, station commander Martin Eldridge said: "We had about five inches of snow and conditions are treacherous. We are having to take our 4 x 4 Land Rover everywhere with the fire engine.
And Petworth postman Rob Whitton said: "I have lived here all my life and I have never seen anything as bad as this."
He said postmen were sent home because no mail was reaching the town for delivery.
As severe weather warnings were issued people in Midhurst began panic buying.
Manager of Budgens, Damien Flynn said: "It started at opening time on Tuesday, it was really really mad in here."
By 6pm the shelves were bare of all stocks of bread, milk, salt, fresh produce and cans of soup.
And elsewhere in Midhurst stocks of candles, heaters and gas bottles were flying off the shelves.
Dairy farmers were facing their worst nightmare for many years as they waited for milk collections.
Roger Lywood at Kirdford is one of the largest dairy farmers in the Midhurst and Petworth area. Yesterday he and staff were digging out the 1.5 mile route from the farm to the A272 and clearing fallen trees in the hope the milk tanker would reach him.
"Luckily this is our lowest milk producing time of the year but we will have around 4000 litres for collection," he said yesterday.
The collection company had promised him they would try to reach the farm by last night or this morning.
"If they don't we will be facing the scenario of tipping the lot and starting again," he said.
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