A United Airlines captain suffered an apparent heart attack while piloting a plane from Houston to Seattle and passengers stepped in to help with a doctor performing CPR and an off-duty pilot assisting in the emergency landing in Idaho.

A three-year-old boy who refused to use his seatbelt has been kicked off a flight at a US airport.

Last-minute Christmas shoppers shivered and travellers were left stranded as winter storms lashed the US from Portland, Maine, to Portland, Oregon.