Around 40 million people in the U.S. are under a winter storm warning from an unusual blast of severe cold weather and snow across the South.

A historic winter storm swept across the Gulf Coast on Tuesday, bringing heavy snow and icy conditions to the Southeast while most of the country was facing dangerously cold temperatures from an arctic blast that arrived over the weekend.

A rare winter storm charging through Texas and the northern Gulf Coast has closed highways and airports and prompted the first blizzard warning for southeast Texas and southwest Louisiana.