A major storm spread heavy snow, sleet and freezing rain across the southern United States on Wednesday, breaking snow records and treating the region to unaccustomed perils and wintertime joy.

A major winter storm slammed the US Gulf Coast Tuesday, blanketing parts of a region largely unaccustomed to extreme winter weather with record-breaking snowfall.

Weather forecasters and public agencies issued health and power loss warnings Tuesday as a “rare winter storm" gripped parts of the southern and eastern United States."A bitterly cold airmass will remain in place for much of the South and eastern U.