US: Airlines cancel thousands of flights over winter storm

Airlines cancelled nearly 2,700 US flights as of Saturday afternoon after a massive winter storm snarled airport operations around the country, frustrating thousands of holiday travellers.

There were flight delays within, into or out of the United States totalling about 6,200 as of Saturday afternoon, according to flight tracking website FlightAware, which showed total US flight cancellations at around 2,700. The cancellations as of Saturday afternoon included over 750 from Southwest Airlines and nearly 500 from Delta Air Lines Inc.

The flight disruptions came as an arctic blast gripped much of the United States on Saturday, causing power outages and car wrecks. Plummeting temperatures were predicted to bring the coldest Christmas Eve on record to several cities from Pennsylvania to Georgia.

Temperatures were forecast to top out on Saturday at just 7 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 13 Celsius) in Pittsburgh, surpassing its previous all-time coldest Christmas Eve high of 13 F, set in 1983, the National Weather Service (NWS) said.

Winter storms have increased in frequency and intensity over the past 70 years, according to the US Global Change Research Program. This is in part due to climate change, according to the Environmental Defence Fund, because the planet evaporates more water into the atmosphere as it warms, leading to more overall precipitation.

Passenger railroad Amtrak cancelled dozens of trains through Christmas, disrupting holiday travel for thousands.