What's been happening?published at 00:19 Greenwich Mean Time 24 December 2022
We’ll be closing our live coverage shortly, but here’s a reminder of the key developments as a powerful Arctic storm continues to make its way across much of the US and Canada.
- An estimated 1.5 million people are without power, with the east coast hardest hit, in particular the states of Maine, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia and North Carolina, all of which are experiencing more than 100,000 power outages
- Canada has also been heavily affected by the adverse weather conditions, with an estimated 410,000 people currently without power. More than 330,000 of those are in Quebec, while Ontario is also seeing widespread blackouts
- More than 200 million people are under weather warnings or advisories, including flood warnings, as well as those for blizzards, storms, gale and hard freeze (an extended cold period)
- As the Christmas holiday approaches, thousands of flights have been cancelled in the US and Canada, while authorities have also urged people to avoid all unnecessary travel. Several road accident deaths in recent days in the US have been linked to the bad weather. New York Governor Kathy Hochul described the storm as a “life-threatening dangerous event” and urged New Yorkers to stay at home
- Residents have been told to prepare for flooding, with warnings in place for many states on the eastern seaboard