Five dead as snow wreaks havoc in US

At least five people have died in a winter storm that has gripped the US in a cold snap, leading to school closures, travel chaos and power outages.

Seven US states have declared states of emergency: Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, Kansas, Missouri, Kentucky and Arkansas.

More than 2,000 flights have been canceled, and about 6,500 delays have also been reported due to bad weather caused by the polar vortex of cold air that usually surrounds the North Pole.

More than a quarter of a million people were without power Monday afternoon, with snow forecast to continue into the night on the East Coast.

According to meteorologists, the cold Arctic air is expected to keep the conditions freezing all over the country for several weeks.

In Washington DC – where lawmakers met on Monday to confirm Donald Trump’s victory in the November election – an estimated 5-9in (13-23cm) of snow fell, with up to a foot recorded in nearby parts of Maryland and Virginia.

In front of the Washington Monument, hundreds of local residents gathered at a local park for a snowball fight, a now 15-year-old tradition.

“Just for fun,” one local man told the BBC. “I’ve never had a snowball fight before.”

Former US Olympic figure skater Clare Egan was found ice skating on the National Mall, the central street of the US capital.

He told the Associated Press that he thought “my skiing days are probably behind me”.

The weather in Washington DC was declared until Tuesday morning because of this program, named by the Weather Channel Weather Storm Blair.

Children who were supposed to return to classes Monday after the Christmas and Hanukkah break are instead enjoying a snow day as school districts are closed from Maryland to Kansas.

In some parts of the US, the winter storm brought dangerous road conditions.

In Missouri, highway officials said at least 365 people were involved in crashes Sunday, leaving dozens injured and at least one dead.

In nearby Kansas, one of the hardest hit states, local news reported that two people had died in a car accident during the storm.

In Houston, Texas, a person was found dead due to freezing weather in front of a bus stop on Monday morning, authorities said.

In Virginia, where 300 vehicle accidents were reported between midnight and Monday morning, authorities warned local residents to avoid driving in large areas of the state.

At least one driver was killed, according to local media reports.

Matthew Cappucci, senior meteorologist at weather app MyRadar, told the BBC that Kansas City had seen its heaviest snowfall in 32 years.

Some areas along the Ohio River have turned into “skating rinks” in the cold temperatures, he added.

“Plows get stuck, police get stuck, everyone gets stuck – stay home,” he said.

Data from Poweroutage.us, a tracking website, shows more than 260,000 people were without power Monday afternoon, across the storm’s path through Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Virginia and West Virginia.