Postpublished at 17:30 Greenwich Mean Time 27 January 2015
Laura Trevelyan
BBC News, New York
Summary
A blizzard has hit the US north-east overnight, bringing wind gusts as high as 75mph (121km/h) and heavy snow
Travel bans in New York City and New Jersey have been lifted after snowfall not as high as predicted
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio says the city "dodged a bullet" but a shutdown was in city's interests
Snow is expected to continue to fall north of New York City and into Canada for most of the day
Initial snow totals show the storm hit heavily overnight in Long Island, Connecticut and Massachusetts
Postpublished at 17:30 Greenwich Mean Time 27 January 2015
Postpublished at 17:26 Greenwich Mean Time 27 January 2015
Stuart Ferguson emails: "These are the New Jersey Shore conditions. I took the picture out of my front door window. It's still coming down here and the winds are up."
Image source, Stuart FergusonPostpublished at 17:17 Greenwich Mean Time 27 January 2015
Martha Kearney
Presenter, BBC's WATO, New YorkI cancelled plans for going out for the evening and watched TV, alternating between the News of Doom, Twitter with the hashtags #Snowmageddon and #Snowapocalypse, with a showing of Irma LaDouce for light relief.
From my window high up, I could see the streets gradually clearing of traffic. Around 10pm my mobile phone starting making a very loud siren style noise and I got an emergency message saying that the roads and subway would be closed and no one should go outdoors from 11pm.
After a restless night, I woke early with a sense of trepidation. But pulling the curtains, it was clear that the blizzard hadn't reached Manhattan. There had been some snow but according to one local doorman no more than normal for a New York winter.
I decided to venture outside to see the city as never before and at 6am, the streets were practically deserted. The city that never sleeps certainly seemed pretty dozy. The only vehicles about were police cars and snow ploughs. It was still freezing, though, so I headed back indoors for a cup of tea and the TV news where politicians were being grilled about their decisions to close the streets and public transport.
Postpublished at 17:12 Greenwich Mean Time 27 January 2015
Nantucket Police tweet, external: "Significant flooding in the Francis St & Washington St area"
Image source, Nantucket Police 'No-brainer'published at 17:08 Greenwich Mean Time 27 January 2015
My job is to make decisions and I will always err on the side of caution, he said. "For me it was a no-brainer."
'Lucky' NYCpublished at 17:05 Greenwich Mean Time 27 January 2015
"The bottom line is: We got lucky," Mr de Blasio said.
Postpublished at 17:05 Greenwich Mean Time 27 January 2015
The mayor said his son Dante's attempts to lobby for school to be closed tomorrow did not work. New York schools will reopen on Wednesday.
Postpublished at 17:04 Greenwich Mean Time 27 January 2015
Mr de Blasio is still speaking. He has cautioned New Yorkers who live further east in the city to be more cautious.
Snowboarder towedpublished at 17:02 Greenwich Mean Time 27 January 2015
From our colleagues at PRI's the World: Seen from the newsroom windows - a snowmobile towing a snowboarder
Image source, The WorldPostpublished at 16:56 Greenwich Mean Time 27 January 2015
Colder temperatures would slow some of the work, the New York City mayor said.
Postpublished at 16:55 Greenwich Mean Time 27 January 2015
The clean-up is going well but it will take the rest of the day and part of Wednesday too, he said.
Postpublished at 16:55 Greenwich Mean Time 27 January 2015
"There's no question how serious it was and how serious it was predicted to be," he said.
Postpublished at 16:54 Greenwich Mean Time 27 January 2015
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is giving a press conference now.
Postpublished at 16:48 Greenwich Mean Time 27 January 2015
Simon Curtis emails a photo of ghost town New York last night. The mayor today has been defending his travel shutdown.
Image source, Simon CurtisPostpublished at 16:34 Greenwich Mean Time 27 January 2015
Cleyton Tierney emails: "Having arrived yesterday in Boston, I woke to this scene outside the hotel I'm staying at. It's eerie, beautiful and extremely cold."
Image source, Cleyton TierneyKnee-high snowpublished at 16:34 Greenwich Mean Time 27 January 2015
Froma Harrop
Providence, Rhode IslandThousands of Rhode Islanders are without electricity. (My neighbourhood has been spared so far.) Things are tougher on the coasts. The island of Nantucket is entirely without electricity.
Nobody's out on my street but a man with shovel clearing a path to a doctor's door. He gives up, and half an hour later, frankly, you can't tell he'd been there. I step out my front door into a knee-high drift.
Postpublished at 16:33 Greenwich Mean Time 27 January 2015
In Cheshire, Connecticut, Mystic the dog puts our dog snow depth chart to the test.
Image source, OtherPostpublished at 16:23 Greenwich Mean Time 27 January 2015
Snow continues to pile up - with totals of 20 inches in Baltic, Connecticut, 26 inches in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, and 22 inches in Windham, New Hampshire, as of 10:00 local (15:00 GMT) A blizzard warning is still in effect for most of coastal New England.
State of playpublished at 16:22 Greenwich Mean Time 27 January 2015
Just to recap where we are, the morning after a huge snowstorm strikes the US north-east...
While people in New York City and Philadelphia are saying city officials over-reacted by shutting down travel, snow and high winds have paralysed parts of Long Island, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Maine.
Safe roads herepublished at 16:18 Greenwich Mean Time 27 January 2015
If you're in New York and wondering when it's safer to drive , New York City has its own map of which roads have been snowploughed, external.