Tens of thousands of people in New Mexico are without power as the first major winter storm of the season rolled across the northern two-thirds of the state.

Several feet of snow were expected to fall in parts of New Mexico and Colorado over the next three days in what meteorologists said could be the worst blizzard to hit the region in decades, as the authorities warned of dangerous road conditions and power outages.

Emergency crews were rescuing drivers who got stuck on snow-covered roads as a potentially record-breaking storm moves across New Mexico.