Temperature to plunge to COLDEST EVER recorded in Chicago

State of emergencies have been declared in Chicago, Wisconsin and Michigan as some of the coldest weather in a generation descended upon the US midwest. The brutal chill has been caused by a polar vortex, a band of arctic freezing air which has made its way south. Temperatures have plummeted to life-threatening sub-zero levels of minus 40F (-40C) in some states.

The cold snap was blamed for at least eight deaths this week – including a young couple whose SUV struck another vehicle in Indiana and a man found frozen to death in a garage in Wisconsin – and impacted travel on roadways, through the air and on the rails.

Multi-vehicle pileups snarled snowy roadways in New York and Pennsylvania, major airlines scrapped thousands of flights in the region and Amtrak cancelled its entire line of service to and from Chicago, one of its primary hubs.

The US National Weather Service is warning that frostbite is possible within just 10 minutes of being outside in such extreme temperatures, and hundreds of schools, colleges and universities in the affected areas have been closed. 

Do you have loved ones living in the midwest? How are they coping with this unprecedented weather emergency? Get in touch and let us know!