Polar vortex: Best photos of US 'big freeze'

Sunlight streams through the windows of the Waterman Opera House, Nebraska

The polar vortex responsible for shattering temperature records has been captured in images taken across America that show its icy grip on all 50 states.

Photos of frozen beaches in Chicago, city structures buried in ice in Nebraska, an opera house covered in icicles and a frozen waterfall have emerged as weather conditions dropped as low as -37C.

New York City's Central Park broke a 118-year-old record when the temperature dropped to -15C, according to Fox News and escaped inmate Robert Vick handed himself back into custody in Kentucky when the chill became too much.

A polar bear was forced to retreat inside in the face of weather colder than in some parts of the Antarctic and dogs could be seen walking along the top of a frozen swimming pool.

Even Hell froze over as the polar vortex took hold, with the Michigan city experiencing freezing temperatures of -26C.