Fierce storms packing winds of up to 80 kilometres an hour have blanketed the central US in snow, some areas have reported 35 centimetres of snow and other areas are expecting more than 60 centimetres of snow.

Blizzard warnings have been issued in several states and the temperature plummeted to -36 Celsius in North Dakota. South Dakota, Texas, Oklahoma and Minnesota have declared state of emergency and called up the National Guard to help dig out stranded travellers. Some states have closed motorways. Roads are extremely icy and visibility is extremely poor. At least 23 people are known to have died so far.
 

Hundreds of people travelling for the Christmas holidays have been stranded; numerous flights have been delayed or cancelled. Fierce winds and ice on electricity pylons and cables has brought down power lines and thousands of people in Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa and Illinois without electricity.
 

Northeasten states were hit last weekend by heavy snowfall and the authorities have now issued flood warnings as the snow is beginning to melt.