In US, a fast-moving winter storm was expected to hit the northeastern, forecasters warned yesterday, prompting airlines to cancel thousands of flights and some Mayors to order schools to close today. <br/><br/>The National Weather Service issued blizzard warnings for parts of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York and Connecticut, with forecasts calling for up to 2 feet of snow in places by early tomorrow, with temperatures 15 to 30 degrees below normal for this time of year. Some 50 million people along the Eastern Seaboard were under storm or blizzard warnings and watches.<br/><br/>American Airlines canceled all flights into New York's three metropolitan area airports, Newark, LaGuardia Airport and John F. Kennedy International Airport and JetBlue Airways reported extensive cancellations. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who was due to meet President Donald Trump in Washington today, postponed her trip until Friday, the White House said. <br/><br/>The storm comes near the end of an unusually mild winter along much of the East Coast, with below-normal snowfalls in cities such as New York City and Washington, D.C. Boston was braced for up to a foot of snow, which forecasters warned would fall quickly during the storm's expected peak on today, making travel dangerous.