US spring snow storm leaves 300,000 in the dark

A spring storm has caused power outages across states in the north-eastern US, with over a foot of snow falling in some places.

Some 300,000 customers lost electricity, 200,000 of them in New York state.

Residents as far south as the state of Virginia who were looking forward to spring were instead greeted with snow.

Several other north-eastern states had winter storm warnings in place from the National Weather Service (NWS).

It was feared that heavy, wet snow could bring down tree limbs, with the NWS warning of wind gusts up to 40mph (64km/h).

New York officials said people should try to stay off the roads if they can.

The New York state town of Binghamton set a two-day record for the month of April with 14.5in (36.8cm) of snow as of Tuesday morning.

The town of Virgil, New York, reported 18in of snow, reaching the highest level of predicted snow fall. Albany, New York, the state capital, experienced a phenomenon called thundersnow.

The snowfall caused multiple vehicle accidents in Pennsylvania, where up to 8in fell in some places, and parts of West Virginia and western Virginia and Maryland saw about 6in of snow, causing heavy traffic on highways in the region.

Coastal cities like Boston and New York City were spared, but experienced heavy rain, flooding and strong wind gusts.

Many people on Twitter bemoaned the late season snow when they were just experiencing typical spring weather. One person tweeted "happy spring" along with a video of snow falling on their deck.

While the snow has stopped in most places, the NWS has kept a winter weather advisory and wind advisory for some central New York counties. The advisories will remain in effect until later this evening.