Record-breaking snowstorm hits US

Americans pining for a white Christmas got more than they bargained for as a record-breaking snowstorm closed airports and roadways across the northeastern United States, putting a damper on the holiday's biggest shopping weekend.

Just days before the December 25 holiday, the eastern seaboard from North Carolina to New England was yesterday digging out from the worst blizzard in years, which closed train and bus service, paralysed air traffic and left hundreds of thousands of residents without power in some areas.

Many churches cancelled Sunday services, as local officials urged residents to hunker down indoors while record snowfall wrought havoc on the roadways.

And the storm was a blow to the already-reeling retail sector, which had been counting on cash registers loudly ringing on the Saturday before Christmas - traditionally the busiest shopping day of the year - to make up for weeks of lacklustre sales.

"I think we can safely say that sales in the Washington region were crippled," Ellen Davis, vice president of the National Retail Federation, said.

She said the impact of the inclement weather went far beyond just making it harder for customers to snap up holiday gifts.

Without shoppers out and about at shopping malls and along America's high streets "people weren't eating at restaurants, there wasn't any impulse buying," Ms Davis said.

With some 15 billion dollars of all nationwide sales occurring on the last weekend before Christmas, many shoppers trying to make up for lost time were likely to confront closed stores, unploughed roads and limited transportation options.

But Ms Davis said the impact of the blizzard on Christmas shopping would be felt differently across the country, depending on when the storm hit.

While Washington, which received a total of 40 centimetres of snow, woke up on Saturday swathed in a deep white blanket under clear skies, the flakes were flying at the same time in New York and points north.

"What we heard in New York is that a couple of flurries got people more in the spirit of shopping," Ms Davis said.