Winter storm brings travel chaos to Northeast with flights halted at airports

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Winter weather blasting the Northeast on Sunday saw ground stops put in place at New York’s main airports and Philadelphia International Airport.

The ground stop meant that departing flights were temporarily paused at their terminal gates, causing lengthy delays for incoming and departing flights.

According to the FAA, the stops began at New York’s JFK and LaGuardia at around 8am ET and were expected to be lifted at around 10.30am ET.

More than 1,000 flights coming into JFK have now been delayed, stated the FAA.

“Due to snow or ice, this is causing some arriving flights [into JFK] to be delayed an average of three hours and 16 minutes, not exceeding four hours and 53 minutes,” the FAA said.

As of 9am Sunday, New York City saw around 1.1 inches of snow, with LaGuardia International Airport reporting 2.6 inches, according to The Weather Channel.

A municipal employee removes snow in a street as the snow falls in the Brooklyn borough of New York City (AFP via Getty Images)

More than 700 flights were delayed at Philadelphia International Airport, according to FOX5.

Children play on a snow-covered street as snow falls down in the Brooklyn borough of New York City (AFP via Getty Images)

Newark Liberty International Airport saw ground delays as well, with an average delay for flights into the airport of 170 minutes, with maximum delays of 267 minutes.

Two people sled in the snow next to the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway (AP)

The winter storm is expected to clear by Sunday afternoon, but temperatures will remain below freezing. A gradual warm-up will take place through the week with temperatures expected to be inthe 50s by Thursday.