Winter Wonderland

Heavy storms have swept the US Midwest, dumping a record 20 inches (50cm) of snow on Columbus, Ohio, and disrupting flights and other services.

Four people were reported to have been killed in Ohio after shovelling snow.

The snow was preceded by freezing rain, ice and sleet that swept an area from eastern Kentucky into New York state. It cut power to many areas.

The central United States and parts of Canada have suffered one of their worst seasons of winter weather in years.

Chicago is still suffering very cold temperatures for early March, after its snowiest winter in nearly 20 years.

In Canada, air traffic via Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa was disrupted by the same storm system that hit Ohio, and which was set to dump up to 16 inches (40 cm) of snow over the weekend.

There were so many car crashes that police had ceased to attend minor accidents, local media said.

In Ohio itself, 20.4 inches of snow fell on Columbus - smashing the city's previous record of 15.3 inches set in 1910.

Cincinnati and Cleveland also received about a foot (30cm) of snow.

At Port Columbus International Airport, a plane skidded off a runway while landing, though no-one was hurt.

Authorities urged motorists to avoid the roads, while snowplough crews were working overtime at the weekend to carve paths through snowdrifts.