A huge winter storm sweeping across many states in the US is causing thousands of flights to be delayed or cancelled as residents are gripped by fear of a possible heaviest snowfall in a decade.
Thirty states have been put under a weather alert after a state of emergency was declared in Kentucky, Virginia, Kansas, Arkansas, and Missouri.
A blast of snow, ice, wind, and plunging temperatures stirred up dangerous travel conditions in the central US on Sunday, blanketing major roadways.
CNN reports that as many as 62 million residents are to be affected when the storm unleashes a barrage of heavy snow, treacherous ice, rain, and severe thunderstorms across a 1,300-mile (2092.1472 kilometres) swath of the US.
“For locations in this region that receive the highest snow totals, it may be the heaviest snowfall in at least a decade,” the National Weather Service said.
Forecasters say the extreme weather is caused by the polar vortex—an area of cold air circling the Arctic.
Usually, the polar vortex stays up around the North Pole, but it can shift and expand, bringing lower temperatures further south than usual.
The polar vortex had been expanding over the US in recent days before the winter storm began to hit on Saturday evening.
The weather service warned that severe thunderstorms with the possibility of tornadoes and hail may occur in some regions over the next few days.
Meanwhile, in the United Kingdom (UK), some airports in Manchester, Liverpool, and Birmingham closed off runways after a heavy snowstorm swept through the city.
The UK’s national grid and operators reported power outages across homes in the country
