At least nine people have died as a winter storm slammed into the north eastern United States bringing travel chaos as it dumped nearly two feet of snow in some areas.

A winter storm with fierce winds has struck the north eastern United States dumping nearly two feet of snow in some parts and whipping up blizzard-like conditions.

Tens of thousands of residents were ordered to evacuate coastal areas in the north eastern United States today as big cities and small towns across the US Northeast braced for the onslaught of a superstorm threatening some 60 million people along the most heavily populated corridor in the nation.

New York City woke up shivering this morning as temperatures across the north eastern United States plunged to record lows.

A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, has said the information that terrorists were considering attacks against banks in north eastern United States was the result of information the intelligence community received from interviews with captured al Qaida suspects from Afghanistan.