Severe winter storm claims at least five lives in US

At least five people have died as a powerful winter storm sweeps across a wide portion of the US, causing widespread school closures, travel disruptions, and power outages.

Seven US states declared emergencies: Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, Kansas, Missouri, Kentucky and Arkansas, News.Az reports, citing foreign media.

More than 2,300 flights have been cancelled, with nearly 9,000 delays also reported owing to the extreme weather caused by the polar vortex of icy cold air that usually circles the North Pole.

Over 200,000 people had no power on Monday night across states in the storm's path, according to Poweroutage.us. Snow and sleet is forecast to continue in much of the north-eastern US on Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service (NWS).

While the precipitation will then dissipate, cold Arctic air is expected to keep conditions icy across a chunk of the country for several more weeks.

In Washington DC - where lawmakers met on Monday to certify Donald Trump's win in November's election - about 5-9in (13-23cm) of snow fell, with up to a foot recorded in parts of nearby Maryland and Virginia.

In other parts of the US, the winter storm brought with it dangerous road conditions.

In Missouri, the state's highway patrol said at least 365 people had crashed on Sunday, leaving dozens injured and at least one dead.

In nearby Kansas, one of the worst-hit states, local news reported that two people were killed in a car crash during the storm.

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

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

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

News.Az