At least 46 people have now died following a huge snowstorm that has plunged the US into a deep freeze.
According to reports, 46 have now died in the US due to Storm Elliott. A further four have died in the Canadian province of British Columbia after a bus rolled over on icy roads.
The bomb cyclone, which is a term to describe a rapidly deepening area of pressure, has caused temperatures across the North America to plunge with up to 250 million people facing severe ice, snow, wind and power cuts.
The icy blast has covered an area of 2,000 miles with officials in the state of New York reporting 18 fatalities.
New York governor Kathy Hochul said: “No matter how many emergency vehicles we have, they cannot get through.”
In the Buffalo area, nearly four feet of snow fell at the airport on Sunday which caused more than 2,360 domestic and international flights to be cancelled.
Temperatures even plummeted to as low as -10C in the usually balmy southern states of Florida and Georgia.
In Erie County, Ohio, ambulances were taking up to three hours to get to hospital. Four people were killed in a 50-vehicle pile-up in the county on Friday.
Erie County executive Mark Poloncarz said: "This is not the Christmas any of us hoped for nor expected."
A driver died in Kansas City, Missouri, after he skidded into a creek.
On Christmas Eve, more than 273,000 New England residents were without power and 169,000 in North Carolina.
President Joe Biden last week called the weather catastrophe “dangerous and threatening”.
In Canada, temperatures ranged from -28C in the northwest, to potentially as low as -30C in the Yukon territory.
Following the bus crash on Christmas Eve which killed four, 36 needed treatment, eighth whom remained in hospital on Christmas Day.
Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau said: “To Canadians affected by winter weather across the country — please stay safe.
“Crews are working hard to clear roads, restore power, and bring services back online. Let’s check in on our friends and neighbours to ask how they’re doing and see if they need anything.”
Record levels of snowfall in Japan have left at least 17 dead and 90 people injured according to disaster management officials, the Associated Press reported.
Much of the country's northern and western regions have seen persistent heavy snow in recent days, stranding hundreds of vehicles on highways, delaying delivery and public transport services, and leaving thousands of homes without power, the outlet reported.
The scope of the winter storm has been unprecedented, with some parts of northeastern Japan reporting three times their average snowfall for the season.
The Associated Press reported that officials said Monday that 17 people have died, some of whom had fallen while removing snow from the roofs. The officials urged residents not to remove snow from vehicles and roofs on their own due to safety concerns, the outlet reported.
