The north-east coast of the USA and parts of Canada are bracing for heavy snowfall and blizzard like conditions due to strike Monday night (local time). Although currently the worst of the weather is yet to strike, between 50 per cent and 70 per cent of flights in and out of NYC area airports have already been cancelled.

These cancellations include:

• American Airlines (AA) suspended operations in and out of New York, Boston and Philadelphia late Monday (26 January) afternoon (local time).
• United Airlines (UA) has cancelled all services in and out of Newark, JFK, LaGuardia, Boston and Philadelphia on Tuesday 27 January .
• Delta (DL) has cancelled more than 1,600 flights (Monday and Tuesday) with very limited service operating Monday in and out of the New York area, Boston and Philadelphia.
• Qantas (QF) has cancelled its New York services on Tuesday 27 January.

Areas of storm impact

All airlines are offering customers the opportunity to re-book without penalty. In most cases, customers will be contacted regarding cancellation of their flight; however, customers should still check the status of their flights if they are not contacted directly by the airline.

Be aware that services to/from Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East will also be affected so please check directly with the relevant carrier(s).

Important information for customers in the region of the storm's path:

• The storm is expected to peak late on Monday night and into Tuesday and a state of emergency has been declared in parts of New York state, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island and New Jersey.
• People are advised to stay indoors .
• From 11pm on Monday 26 January all private cars will be banned from the roads in New York.
• New Jersey buses and trains will cease operations from 8pm Monday night.
• A number of shows and concerts have been cancelled for Monday night - customers with tickets may be eligible for refunds and should contact their ticket provider or the venue for advice.
• People in the region should monitor media reports and follow the direction of the local authorities.

Further details about the storm are available on the Weather Channel.