The victims included a woman and her 14-year-old stepdaughter, whose car slid and was hit by another vehicle about 80 miles south of Kansas City.

Another woman’s car slid into the path of an SUV in northern Missouri, a 62-year-old man in Kansas died after his truck skidded and hit a concrete barrier and two vehicles collided killing a 41-year-old man from Mexico.

Some roads were blocked for hours and hundreds of drivers were stranded, with Missouri troopers responding to more than 3,000 calls on Saturday afternoon.

Dozens of flights were cancelled and thousands of homes and businesses were without power.

In Kansas City ground crews spent hours clearing snow from Arrowhead Stadium ahead of a playoff between Kansas Chiefs and Indianapolis Colts.

About eight inches of snow had fallen there by early afternoon.

The storm began in Mexico as rain but as it headed to the US it turned into snow.

It reached Kansas and Missouri on Friday and spread to Iowa, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio on Saturday.

It is forecast to leave up to 10 inches (25cm) of snow in Washington DC and parts of Maryland by Sunday and there could also be heavy snow in Virginia.

So far Missouri has had the worst of the snow, with more than a foot (30cm) on Saturday morning around St Louis and Jefferson City.

Missouri’s governor Mike Parson said on Twitter that he had been briefed by public safety agencies and warned drivers to stay off the roads “as our dedicated road and emergency crews continue to fight this storm”.

“Lots of work being done in St Louis area and the snow isn’t letting up anytime soon.”

Meanwhile, much of Europe is also dealing with heavy snow.

There have been avalanches, mountain villages cut off and transport disrupted.

At least 21 weather-related deaths have been reported across the continent in the last 10 days.

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