Millions of people across the northern Gulf Coast braced Tuesday for a rare winter storm that’s expected to scatter heavy snow, sleet and freezing rain around the Deep South as a blast of Arctic air plunges much of the eastern U.S. into a deep freeze.

Heavy snow, sleet and freezing rain are spreading east across parts of the Florida panhandle and eastern Carolinas, closing roads and schools and grounding flights.

A man seen running in the snow in Houston, Texas on Tuesday A rare winter storm is gripping parts of the US deep south, closing highways and airports in Texas and prompting a first-ever blizzard warning in southwest Louisiana.