Snow, sleet and perilously cold temperatures sweep eastern two-thirds of country as thousands of flights grounded

• Snowstorms strike the US: in pictures

At least seven people are dead as the result of a monster winter storm that has brought heavy snowfall and ice from the Gulf coast to the north-east, leaving more than 700,000 in the US without power and cancelling more than 10,000 flights.

The Louisiana department of health confirmed two deaths related to the winter storm in Caddo parish. According to the agency, two men of unknown ages died of hypothermia.