Snow, sleet and power outages: 140m Americans under warnings for major winter storm

Dangerous weather engulfing large area of country as 16 states plus DC declare states of emergency

A powerful winter storm with more than 140 million Americans in its crosshairs started sweeping across much of the US on Saturday, packing heavy snow and sleet as well as freezing rain and causing widespread power outages.

Snowfall was already being reported on Saturday morning across parts of the plains, the south and the midwest, including in areas of Oklahoma, Iowa, Tennessee, Kansas, Texas and Missouri.