North America and Canada, temperatures were forecast to fall below -20F (-29C). With wind chill making it feel more like -90F (-67C) on Friday night.
Canada, high winds knock out power for tens of thousands of residents in Nova Scotia.
Thousands of snow ploughs are clearing roads across the US East Coast.
Frozen Pictures of Objects
National Weather Service (NWS) predict dangerously low temperatures moving into the weekend as frigid air lingering over the North Pole prowls towards the US mid-Atlantic region.
“An arctic outbreak will keep temperatures 20F to 30F degrees below average across the north-eastern US,” the National Weather Service speeking, adding that there was a “chance for many daily temperature records to be broken.”
Massachusetts, residents of Boston 1ft (30cm) of snowfall also clearing the streets with shovels.
Heavy snowfall to a wide area along the US East Coast, as well as hurricane-force winds.
Four deaths report in traffic accidents in North and South Carolina. Further fatalities occurre in Wisconsin, Kentucky and Texas.
This winter most of the areas of Canada freeze. Big example is Niagra Falls.
Natural gas prices in the US north-east have risen to an all-time high, driven by demand for heating fuel.
Panicked New York City residents rushed to shops before the snow came, clearing shelves of milk, eggs, and kale, the New York Times inform.
The weather pattern inform snow to the US South as far down as Florida.