It's coming: The deadly arctic freeze

Meteorologists may be avoiding 2014’s buzzword: the polar vortex, but there is no stopping the arctic freeze.

Temperatures are dropping across the United States, which is bracing for one of the coldest Januarys it has seen in quite some time.

Brutal cold is expected to freeze 70 per cent of the country. In Illinois, winter arrived on Monday signalling the start of a week that will include sub-zero temperatures and half-foot of snow. And this is just the beginning…

Image: A man looks over the partially frozen Lake Michigan and the Chicago skyline. Photograph: Jim Young/Reuters

Image: Snow has covered the southern Californian mountains and parts of the Grand Canyon. Photograph: @steph26_a/Twitter

Image: A commuter makes her way to work as temperatures dropped in in Chicago, Illinois. Temperatures are expected to remain in the single digits and three to six inches of snow are expected to fall. Photograph: Scott Olson/Getty Images

Image: Locals cross the Chicago River on their way to work. Photograph: Scott Olson/Getty Images

Image: A man makes his way to work in sub-zero temperatures in Chicago. Photograph: Scott Olson/Getty Images

Image: A camper scrapes snow from his truck following a winter storm in Joshua Tree National Park, California. Photograph: Lee Celano/Reuters

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