A massive snow storm forced hundreds of flight cancellations at US airports Sunday, creating travel misery for thousands of Christmas travellers just as conditions in Europe began to ease.
As hundreds of passengers trapped by freezing weather in Paris and Brussels returned home after European flights resumed normal service on Christmas Day, it was the turn of the Americans to shiver and face disruption to their plans.
The north-east was to get the worst hit from a "dangerous" storm forecast to move northward up the eastern coast of the United States and bring "significant" amounts of snowfall, the National Weather Service (NWS) said.
Crews pre-treated roads with salt and prepared emergency vehicles in Washington, which was paralysed for days by record snow falls last year.
The capital looked set to escape the worst of the conditions this time around, but blizzard warnings were issued for coastal New England, the northern New Jersey shore and New York City. The storm was expected to dump a total of between nine and 15 inches (22.8 to 38.1 centimetres) on the Big Apple as powerful wind gusts blow through the city.
Boston was forecast to receive up to 22 inches (55.9 centimetres) of the white stuff by Monday, with wind gusts as high as 45 miles (72 kilometres) per hour by that evening.
The storm was already bringing misery to travellers hoping to return home from their Christmas vacations. Many airlines waived fees for changing flights.
Ice and snow has already snarled road traffic in several south-eastern states, including Georgia's northern mountains where six inches (15.2 centimetres) were reported Saturday. North Carolina's department of transportation reported interstate highways partially covered with snow and ice.
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