More than 5,000 flights cancelled as US east coast digs out of record snow

A major snow storm hit the US east coast on Monday with record-breaking snow, causing disruptions for millions and thousands of flight cancellations.

Parts of Rhode Island and Massachusetts have seen nearly 33in (83cm) of snow fall, with more than19in in New York's Central Park, the National Weather Service said.

There have been "near impossible" travel conditions in New York, a state agency warned. More than 600,000 homes and businesses on the east coast endured power outages, with New Jersey and Massachusetts the worst hit.

Winter storm warnings stretched from North Carolina to northern Maine, with some warnings in place further north in parts of eastern Canada.

The snow was expected to persist throughout Monday, according to the National Weather Service, with some areas near the northeast coastline expected to get a total of 1ft to 2ft (61cm) of snow by Tuesday morning.

Rhode Island, America's smallest state, appeared to have received the most snow during the storm. In fact, it was the worst snowstorm to ever hit the state, according to local media.

Providence, the state capital, received 33in of snow, smashing the existing record for the single greatest snowstorm, 28.6in set in February 1978.

"It completely smashed it," Candice Hrencecin, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Boston, told the New York Times. "We were just as shocked as everyone else."

A ban on non-essential travel was implemented in Rhode Island and also in neighbouring Connecticut. Later in the day, Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey also imposed a travel ban.

"I'm issuing a travel ban on all non-essential driving in Southeastern Massachusetts — and reducing the speed limit on the Pike to 40mph (25kmh)," she said in an online post, referring to a major highway in the state.

"Whiteout conditions are making travel extremely dangerous," she added. "If you get stuck, help will have a hard time reaching you... I strongly urge everyone to stay off the roads no matter where you live."

In Massachusetts, nearly 300,000 were without power, according to poweroutage.us, including 85% of customers in Barnstable County, which includes all of Cape Cod.

In New York, a travel ban brought the city of over 8 million to a near standstill before it was lifted at noon local time.

In Connecticut and New Jersey, there were concerns that falling trees and branches could lead to dangerous road conditions and more power outages.

In Providence, a city spokesman told The Providence Journal that more than 300 vehicles had been towed for parking in the way of plows.

Though by the afternoon on Monday, tow operations had stopped and drivers were instead helping people whose vehicles had gotten stuck.

Meanwhile, people looking to travel within the US on Monday, struggled.

The number of cancelled flights within, into or out of the US reached more than 5,675, according to tracking site FlightAware.

The site shows that 98% of flights out of New York's LaGuardia airport were cancelled, and 91% of flights from JFK. Both locations had seen around 15in (38cm) of snow.

Boston's Logan International Airport cancelled 92% of outgoing flights on Monday, while New Jersey's Newark Liberty Airport cancelled 92%, and Philadelphia International Airport cut 81%.