Authorities have reported several deaths attributed to a major winter storm that brought record-breaking snow and freezing temperatures to the southern U.S.

Millions of people across the northern Gulf Coast braced Tuesday for a rare winter storm that’s expected to scatter heavy snow, sleet and freezing rain around the Deep South as a blast of Arctic air plunges much of the eastern U.S. into a deep freeze.

A major winter storm that slammed Texas and blanketed the northern Gulf Coast with record-breaking snow moved east Wednesday, spreading heavy snow, sleet and freezing rain across parts of the Florida Panhandle, Georgia and eastern Carolinas.

A winter storm prompted a National Weather Service office in Louisiana to issue a first-ever blizzard warning. The storm is causing dangerous conditions from Texas to North Carolina.

Flight cancellations are mounting as a historic winter storm sweeps across the Gulf Coast. Already, the storm has brought air traffic to a virtual standstill at several airports across parts of Texas and Louisiana.

Houston’s two major airports, George Bush Intercontinental and Hobby, are also closed Tuesday, while Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, the world’s busiest, is pretreated roadways and airfield surfaces in preparation for the winter weather, according to spokesperson Andrew Gobeil.

A major storm spread heavy snow, sleet and freezing rain across parts of the Florida Panhandle, Georgia and the coastal Carolinas on Wednesday after breaking snow records in Texas and Louisiana.

A once-in-a-lifetime winter storm pummeled the South, all the way down to the Gulf Coast, with snow and ice. Here's the latest.

A winter storm has impacted 1,500 miles of the Deep South, from the Texas Gulf Coast to the eastern coast of the Carolinas.

A well-predicted and historic winter storm impacted the Deep South this week. I am staring out of my office window at a frozen landscape and 14 degrees F temperature in my part of the metropolitan Atlanta area.

The rare deep freeze in the wake of an historic winter storm that swept across the U.S. South this week will linger through Sunday, leaving the region in the grip of extreme cold and ice and creating dangerous driving conditions.