Millions in the U.S. are in the path of the first major winter storm of the year, which is expected to dump snow and ice and create dangerous conditions from the Central Plains to the East Coast.

A winter storm will produce snow and ice starting in the central U.S. and moving east through early next week, forecasts say, and travel disruptions are likely.

A state of emergency has been declared in the states of Kentucky and Virginia, as well as parts of the US unaccustomed to the cold.

Tens of millions of Americans braced Sunday for a massive winter storm, expected to bring the heaviest snowfall and coldest temperatures in over a decade to parts of the country.

Road conditions were deteriorating Saturday in the central U.S. as a winter storm brought a mix of snow, ice and plunging temperatures, with forecasts calling for the dreaded combo to spread eastward in the coming days.