US winter storm brings heavy snow and travel chaos to north-east

The north-eastern US coast has been hit by one of the worst snow storms in two years, blanketing cities with over a foot of snow and causing travel chaos.

In-person schooling was suspended for thousands of students in New York, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts, replaced with online classes.

Around 1,200 US flights - mostly in New York and Boston - were cancelled, while another 1,700 were delayed.

But no serious injuries or deaths from the storm have been reported so far.

Snow began falling quickly in the early morning hours from eastern Pennsylvania to Massachusetts, leaving nearly 50 million people under winter weather alerts.

Some areas saw the heaviest snowfall in years, including Farmington Connecticut, which recorded 15.5 inches (39 cm) of snowfall on Tuesday.

The blizzard knocked out power to 150,000 Pennsylvania residents on Tuesday morning local time.

The conditions also made travel dangerous, leading to minor car accidents in both Boston and New York City. Some areas placed a ban on a commercial vehicles on the roads, while officials urged residents to avoid travel if possible.

Students in New York City had to switch to remote learning, which was plagued by technical problems that prevented the district's 900,000 students from logging on.

Mayor Eric Adams defended the decision later in the day, claiming students had fallen behind during the pandemic and could not afford to lose more school days.

New York City's public schools chancellor David Banks blamed the issues on IBM, which provides log-in software for online learning.

"This was a test. I don't think that we passed this test," Mr Banks said during a news briefing, adding that he felt "disappointed, frustrated and angry".

IBM told US media that the issues had been "largely resolved" and that it regretted the inconvenience for families.

The storm ended a 744-day relative snow drought for New York City, which hasn't seen more than 2.5 inches of snow in over two years.

Some 3.2 inches of snow falling in Central Park, making it New York's snowiest day since January 2022.

Snow, once commonplace in New York's winter season, has become increasingly rare in recent years.

The weather inspired some residents to embrace the cold and head to the city's parks.

Bryan Sullivan, a retired city planner, told the BBC he has been skiing in Brooklyn's Prospect Park for the past 50 years, including on Tuesday.

He said annually he can usually ski seven to 10 days in the park, but that has not been true over the past couple of years.

"The winter is getting shorter. The hot weather lasts longer. We have things blooming now, despite the snow, that shouldn't be blooming until late March," he said.

On Tuesday afternoon, the storm began shifting from New York toward Boston. It is forecast to hit Cape Code, Massachusetts after that.

Strong winds and heavy snow will also impact Nova Scotia in Canada from this afternoon through into Wednesday morning, with some areas expecting as much as 5 - 10 inches of snow.

With additional reporting from Phil McCausland