10:15pm UK, Monday December 22, 2008

The worst winter storm to hit the US for almost 20 years has left at least five people dead and caused power cuts, huge road pile-ups and travel chaos for people trying to get home for the holidays.

Snow hits parts of New York City

Drivers blinded by blizzard conditions created a 100-vehicle pile-up on Interstate 94 in western Michigan. A 31-year-old man was reported to have died.

In Minnesota, even the use of snowploughs was banned until the thick of the storm passed.

The ice made roads slick as far south as Texas, where a 44-year-old grandmother was killed in Dallas when her car slid off a road.

Travel was also treacherous in the northwestern states of Oregon and Washington, with two to five inches of snow falling, the National Weather Service said.

“This is probably one of the worst storms since 1990,” said meteorologist Dana Felton in Seattle.

Up to 10 inches of snow was forecast across the northwest, with more than a foot (30 cms) in local mountains.

Washington state saw highway closures and “major problems” at its Seattle-Tacoma airport, with thousands of passengers stranded.

In the northeastern US, blizzard conditions and strong winds caused frequent whiteouts, with the weather service warning that “travel will be extremely hazardous” due to a snowstorm sweeping Lake Michigan to the Atlantic Coast.

Bitterly cold temperatures ranged from -17 to -12 Celsius in the Midwest’s northern plains and northern Rocky Mountains.

In Chicago, temperatures plunged below zero and there were thousands of power cuts throughout the city.