A massive winter storm, dubbed a bomb cyclone, swept from the US East Coast on Thursday, dumping snow along the coast and bringing strong winds that will usher in possibly record-breaking cold.

Blizzard conditions dumped more than a foot of snow in parts of the US north east, stranding thousands of airline, bus and rail passengers, with lashing winds and low visibility also buffeting workers returning to their post-Christmas routines.

A massive search for a baby believed to have been thrown into a freezing river by her estranged father will resume in the US today.

Snow and freezing rain swept across wide swathes of the north-eastern United States, causing hundreds of traffic accidents in which at least four people died.