Snow flurries are rare in US south – now a blizzard has hit

A rare winter storm brought snow and freezing rain to parts of the southern United States, closing highways and airports and prompting the first blizzard warning for southwest Louisiana.

Four people are believed to have died from exposure to the cold so far – two cases are being investigated as cold-related by Austin, Texas, authorities, while two deaths due to hypothermia have been reported in Georgia and Milwaukee.

The severe weather is part of an extremely cold air mass that has descended on the southern and eastern United States.

A video shows nuns and a priest enjoying a snowball fight in Materia, Louisiana, while a skateboarder is pulled along a street in Charleston, South Carolina.

Read more about the rare winter storm.