'Crippling and potentially historic' blizzard to hit US

A "crippling" and "potentially historic" blizzard is set to hit the US, possibly leaving up to 30 inches of snow.

The National Weather Service (NWS) has issued a blizzard warning for a large part of the East Coast, with around 29 million people set to be affected.

The severe conditions are expected to start on Monday afternoon at around 1pm local time and could last until Wednesday morning.

Forecasters spoke of "life-threatening conditions" with winds reaching 65 mph.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio warned the public to "prepare for something worse than we have seen before".

"This could be the biggest snowstorm in the history of this city," Blasio said as he advised residents to stay off the roads.

The current biggest snowfall on record in New York City is 26.9 inches (68cm) in February 2006.

Cities along the East Coast have deployed snow plows and trucks to dispense road salt.

Shop owners said their stock had been cleared, as concerned residents stocked up on essentials.

Delta Air Lines announced that it was cancelling some 600 flights because of the warning.

Southwest Airlines said it would cancel more than 130 of 3,410 flights scheduled, while United Airlines suspended all planned flights for Tuesday flights at airports in New York, Boston and Philadelphia.

American Airlines said it would confirm its plans on Monday morning, but said it expected "quite a few" flights to be affected.