Weather caused day of carnage on A35 just before Christmas
Some 35 cars were caught up in the road horror on the A35 Puddletown Bypass near Berer Regis on December 23, 2009. Treacherous ice caused 'ice rink' conditions on the road, with 35 cars crashed in the multiple smash. Wrecks were strewn across the carriageway, verges and central reservation in the rush hour carnage on the A35.
Cars, trucks and vans ploughed into hedges, verges, crash barriers and the central reservation as a sudden downpour froze immediately as it hit the road surface. 
Police shut the eastbound carriageway after the 8am pile-up on a half mile of road where the dual carriageway merges into one lane before the roundabout at Bere Regis. Traffic came to a standstill with long tailbacks on the bypass to the Warmwell turning as the crash caused chaos in rush hour. 
Insp John Mallace, from the police traffic unit, said: "The road was like an ice rink. "The Highways Agency and Dorset County Council grit the roads but if there is a downpour the salt washes away. "Drivers need to take responsibility for their own actions and drive appropriately for the conditions. "They need to slow down, avoid harsh braking and keep their distance. "Drivers should drive with extreme caution in these conditions when there is no grip on the road."
He added: "Drivers were driving at speeds inappropriate to the circumstances. It could have been a lot worse. "Modern car design assists and everyone was going in the same direction but when people drive in these circumstances they should exercise extreme caution and drive sensibly."
Police estimated that about 35 vehicles were involved in the massive smash. 
Vehicles which crashed included a blue Land Rover, a Mini Cooper, a Mazda, a Fiesta, a heavy goods vehicle and a white van. Vehicles took out 20 to 30 feet long sections of the crash barriers when they careered off the road. Officers sealed off the road and redirected traffic while the wreckage was cleared and casualties were treated.
Four crews of firefighters from Dorchester and Bere Regis attended and gave first aid but they did not need to cut anyone from their vehicles. 
A spokesman for the South Western Ambulance NHS Trust said that they took 30 people without injury to a fire service-hosted reception centre at Bere Regis fire station by coach and transport ambulances. Clinical support officer for South Western Ambulance NHS Trust Dave Toman said three casualties had been taken to hospital, although none of them had suffered serious injuries. He said he was 'absolutely amazed' that nobody had been more seriously injured in a crash of that scale.
Across the county, police said that they received 49 emergency calls between 7am and 8am as the crash toll rose on icy roads in the rush hour. In Beaminster icy conditions in Fleet Street claimed a 4x4 as the car overturned and fell into the river by new houses in the old Barnfleet works. The car was lifted out by crane.
There was also chaos on the rails. The rail network in Dorset was plunged into chaos as sub-zero temperatures brought London Waterloo-bound services to a standstill. South West Trains (SWT) was unable to run any services between Weymouth and Southampton until early afternoon yesterday because severe icy conditions froze points and rails.
The first three trains ran out of Weymouth as normal but because of a backlog further up the line all services had to be cancelled until 1.03pm.
SWT could not even lay on replacement bus services because of blocked roads and hazardous driving conditions.
Except for the cancellation of one early morning departure, the Weymouth to Bristol line remained largely unaffected by the chaos and London-bound passengers were advised to travel to Westbury in Wiltshire to pick up connections to Paddington.