US Midwest struggle with winter storm.

Deadly cold weather has brought what meteorologists call a “once-in-a-generation” deep freeze to large areas of the US.

Forecasters say temperatures over the next few days will go as low as -30C in the Midwest, with a wind chill making it feel even colder.

At least five people are reported to have been killed across several states as a direct result of the cold weather.

Snow is expected to fall as far south as Alabama and Georgia.

As much as 24in (60cm) of snow is forecast in the state of Wisconsin, and 6in in Illinois.

Snow is expected to fall throughout Wednesday, from the Great Lakes region into New England.

A state of emergency has been declared in the Midwestern states of Wisconsin, Michigan, and Illinois, as well as in the normally more clement southern states of Alabama and Mississippi.

“This could possibly be history-making,” said Ricky Castro, a National Weather Service (NWS) meteorologist in Romeoville, Illinois.

How is it affecting daily life?

Hundreds of schools have been closed in the affected states, and hundreds of flights grounded.

The US Postal Service has also canceled mail deliveries to the region on Wednesday. Even beer deliveries in Wisconsin have been hit by the cold, with Wisconsin-based companies delaying shipments over fears the beer would freeze within the trucks.

The NWS is warning that frostbite is possible within just 10 minutes of being outside in such extreme temperatures.

Residents of the city of Chicago in Illinois, long used to freezing winters, have been warned to expect an unusually deep and dangerous period of cold.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has urged people not to venture outdoors unless they have to, and the city has set up dozens of “warming centers” for the estimated 80,000 rough sleepers there.

Chicago police say people are being robbed at gunpoint of their coats. Those wearing Canada Goose jackets, which can cost as much as £900 ($1,100), have been targeted, local media report.

Landmarks including the Lincoln Park Zoo, Field Museum, and Art Institute are closed.

In North Dakota, cattle ranchers Joey Myers and Scott Bailey told, Reuters news agency they planned on staying up with their animals during the cold snap to prevent fatalities.

Meanwhile, police in McLean, Illinois, some 150 miles (240km) from Chicago, poked fun at the impending freeze, announcing that Elsa, from Disney’s Frozen, has been arrested over the extreme cold.

What is causing this?

The bitterly cold conditions are the result of a spinning pool of cold air known as the polar vortex.

It normally circles the stratosphere over the North Pole, but its current has been disrupted and it is now moving south into the US.

Forecasters are attributing this too sudden warming above the North Pole, caused by a blast of hot air from Morocco last month.

This weather system split the polar vortex and caused it to drift south, Judah Cohen, a winter storm expert for Atmospheric Environmental Research, told AP news agency.

How did Trump inject controversy?

President Donald Trump, who has questioned whether humans are responsible for climate change, tweeted about the conditions.

“What the hell is going on with Global Warming [sic]?” he said. “Please come back fast, we need you!”

In the beautiful Midwest, windchill temperatures are reaching minus 60 degrees, the coldest ever recorded. In coming days, expected to get even colder. People can’t last outside even for minutes. What the hell is going on with Global Waming? Please come back fast, we need you!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 29, 2019

But one of the US government’s own meteorological agencies, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, posted what was widely interpreted as a rebuttal to the president.

The world’s leading scientists have said that climate change is primarily human-induced and can lead to harsher winters.