Rare winter storms have sparked extreme cold weather warnings – some of the first in history – for parts of the US Deep South.
Lake Charles, Louisiana, had a blizzard warning in place for the first time on record on Tuesday, local meteorologists said.
Historic snowfall of between three and six inches (eight and 15cm) was forecast across Houston, New Orleans, Alabama, and Florida, according to the National Weather Service (NWS).
And Texas was bracing itself for never-before-seen snowfall of one inch (2.5cm) per hour on Tuesday into Wednesday, the forecasters said.
Blizzards are set to bring heavy snow, sleet, and freezing rain all the way along the Gulf Coast from Texas to North Carolina – conditions usually only seen further north.
Meanwhile, Arctic air will also mean colder-than-usual winter temperatures to the US’s east coast and upper Midwest.
Residents in the Dakotas and other parts of the Midwest are being warned of the risks of hypothermia and frostbite amid forecast wind chills of between -34C and -46C.
Thousands of flights cancelled
Almost 2,000 flights were cancelled across the country on Tuesday, with around 10,000 other delays.
Both airports in Houston said they had suspended all flights in anticipation of the bad weather.
Before snow started to fall on Monday, the city’s mayor John Whitmire warned people across the state: “Get prepared to be in your house, in your residence, in your warming place for the next 48 hours.
“Don’t let even clear skies on Wednesday and other days fool you. This is a serious arctic blast.”
Meteorologist Daniel Jones said of record snowfall across the deep south: “The last time we saw snow of this magnitude was way back in 1960.
“By modern standards this is going to be a historic and very memorable storm for this part of the world.”
States of emergency have been declared by the governors of Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, where schools and businesses were told to close.
Ten counties in New York have also put in place emergency measures.
Freezing temperatures saw inauguration proceedings in Washington DC moved inside the Capitol’s Rotunda for the start of Donald Trump’s second presidency on Monday.
