Snow causes chaos in New York

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.

In central New York, several districts were closed west of Syracuse, where the National Weather Service said four to eight inches of snow fell.

Schools were closed or had delayed openings in parts of Connecticut.

Wind-driven snow created blizzard conditions across parts of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Vermont and New Hampshire.

Several major Connecticut roads were closed, and traffic was snarled on nearly every major road in Massachusetts.

Traffic jams 20 miles long clogged major arteries around Trenton, New Jersey. Accidents closed several highways in Pennsylvania.

A lorry crossed a central barrier on a road south of Albany, New York, and killed a motorist. State police said the driver told them ice contributed to the accident. Another motorist was killed near Rochester in western New York, police said.

In Connecticut, a Bridgeport man was killed when his pickup spun out of control and struck a barrier, state police said. A New Jersey motorist was killed when he lost control of his vehicle on the Garden State Parkway, police said.