At least five people have died as a winter storm gripped parts of the US in its icy grip, causing mass school closures, travel chaos and power outages.
Seven US states have declared a state of emergency: Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, Kansas, Missouri, Kentucky and Arkansas.
More than 2,000 flights were canceled and around 6,500 delays were reported due to extreme weather conditions caused by the polar vortex of icy cold air that usually circles the North Pole.
More than a quarter of a million people were without power Monday afternoon, and snow was forecast to continue overnight on the East Coast.
According to meteorologists, cold arctic air is expected to keep icy conditions across much of the country for several more weeks.
In Washington DC – where lawmakers met on Monday to confirm Donald Trump’s victory in November’s election – about 5-9 inches (13-23 cm) of snow fell, with up to a foot recorded in parts of nearby Maryland and Virginia.
In front of the Washington Monument, hundreds of local residents gathered in a local park to dance in what is now a 15-year tradition.
“I’m just having fun,” one local told the BBC. “I’ve never had a ball before.”
Former American Olympic skier Clare Egan was found running on skis on the National Mall, the central thoroughfare of the US capital.
She told The Associated Press that she thought “my skiing days may be behind me.”
A state of emergency was declared in Washington DC until the early hours of Tuesday morning due to a system the Weather Channel named Winter Storm Blair.
Children who were supposed to return to class Monday after the Christmas and Hanukkah holidays instead enjoyed a snow day as school districts from Maryland to Kansas were closed.
Elsewhere in the US, the winter storm brought dangerous road conditions with it.
In Missouri, the State Highway Patrol said at least 365 people were involved in accidents Sunday, leaving dozens injured and at least one dead.
In nearby Kansas, one of the hardest hit states, local news reported that two people had died in a car accident during the storm.
In Houston, Texas, a person was found dead of exposure to the cold outside a bus stop Monday morning, authorities said.
In Virginia, where 300 traffic accidents were reported between midnight and Monday morning, authorities warned local residents to avoid driving in large parts of the state.
At least one driver was killed, according to local media.
Matthew Cappucci, senior meteorologist at weather app MyRadar, told the BBC that Kansas City had seen its heaviest snowfall in 32 years.
Some areas near the Ohio River in Kansas and Missouri have turned into “skating rinks” in the freezing temperatures, he added.
“The plows are jamming, the police are jamming, everyone is jamming – stay home,” he said.
Data from Poweroutage.us, a tracking website, showed more than 260,000 people were without power Monday afternoon, along the storm’s path through Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Virginia and West Virginia.
