People travelling to and from the USA are being warned amid the worst Christmas weather conditions the country has seen in decades.
Thousands of flights were cancelled and homeless shelters are overflowing after some places experienced temperatures plummeting 10C within a matter of hours. Forecasters warn of an impending "bomb cyclone" that could make conditions even worse before Christmas.
The frigid air was moving through the central United States to the east, with wind-chill advisories affecting about 135 million people over the coming days, weather service meteorologist Ashton Robinson Cook said on Thursday.
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Places like Des Moines, Iowa, will feel like -38C, making it possible to suffer frostbite in less than five minutes. President Joe Biden warned on Thursday: "This is not like a snow day when you were a kid. This is serious stuff."
More than 2,156 flights within, into or out of the US had been cancelled as of Thursday afternoon, according to the tracking site FlightAware. Airlines have also cancelled 1,576 Friday flights. Airports in Chicago and Denver were reporting the most cancellations.
Foreign Office advice reads: "Snow storms during winter can cause disruptions to critical infrastructure, such as power cuts, or delays and cancellations throughout the major transport hubs in the USA", while the government department urges people to contact travel operators or airlines before travelling.
Updates on USA airport conditions can be found here
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