Chicago’s Lake Michigan, one of the five ‘Great Lakes’ of North America and the only one located entirely within the United States, has frozen over as temperatures plummet.

The lake, which is shared from west to east by the American states of Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan, has succumb to the extreme weather conditions which is ravaging large parts of the country.

As temperatures dip to extremes of -40C in parts of America, the average temperature in Chicago remains around -17C which becomes the coldest day in almost 150 years. Such is the dangers, authorities have warned people in the area to remain inside and, if forced to leave the house, “not to breathe deeply” in what has been described as a “deadly polar vortex”.

With over 1,500 flights cancelled going in and out of the area, members of the public have joined news crews in depicting the quite extraordinary scenes taking place.

Weather service meteorologist Brian Hurley told the Mail: “If you live up in the Arctic Circle, you’d say this is pretty normal. When it’s actually brought down to this level, that’s when you know it’s something serious.”

While meteorologist, Tyler Hasenstein, explained: “I think the proper term is nasty cold.

“We are very confident this cold is going to be significant… People are right to be concerned.”

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A view of Lake Michigan with the air temperature at -20 degrees from an apartment on the water in Chicago yesterday (? by @reallyhalalfood) pic.twitter.com/izgoyenUqr — Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) January 31, 2019

Lake Michigan freezes over, creating spectacular views pic.twitter.com/8DDjRkgFW7 — The Independent (@Independent) January 31, 2019

My brother was on one of the few flights into Chicago this morning. He took this photo of frozen Lake Michigan from the plane. pic.twitter.com/cS8XRCTPQV — David Funk (@DavidPFunk) January 30, 2019



View of Lake Michigan from my apartment. One of the more awe-inspiring sights I’ve seen in my two years in Chicago pic.twitter.com/ERH0xebgPx — John Gordon (@John_W_Gordon) January 30, 2019

@weatherchannel You know it's cold when Lake Michigan freezes – MORE PICS. pic.twitter.com/C4zcw9mi4n — CrazyCatLady9 (@CrazyCatMommy9) January 30, 2019