Weather whiplash: US west set to cook as east coast braces for bomb cyclone

California to be hotter and drier as icy winds blast eastern US with freezing temperatures and snow squalls

As people across the US brace for a blistering cold Christmas, southern Californians will be welcoming balmy weather.

The arctic air mass is expected to push east across much of the US, erupting in what's known as a bomb cyclone - a low-pressure system delivering freezing temperatures, white-out snow squalls and blizzards.