By Shivansh Tiwary

Jan 26 (Reuters) - A powerful winter storm sweeping

across much of the United States forced airlines to cancel

thousands of flights and delayed hundreds on Monday, as freezing

rain and heavy snowfall disrupted travel and snarled

transportation networks.

Over 3,600 ‌flights were canceled and 714 were delayed as of

early Monday, according to flight-tracking website ​FlightAware,

following more than 11,000 cancellations reported on Sunday.

The number of ‍cancellations and delays was expected to rise

as the ⁠day progressed.

Low pressure ⁠south of New England is expected to move east

over the Atlantic on Monday, ‌bringing heavy snow to parts of ​the

Northeast and freezing rain across sections of the Mid-Atlantic,

the U.S. National Weather Service said.

Snow is also expected ⁠along the Appalachian region, while

rain will ‍spread ​along the Southeast coast as a cold front moves

offshore, the agency said.

American Airlines ( AAL ) accounted for the largest share of

disruptions on ‍Monday, with nearly 570 flights canceled and

about 57 delayed, followed by Republic Airways, JetBlue Airways ( JBLU )

and Delta Air Lines ( DAL ).

Boston's Logan International Airport, Dallas Fort Worth

International Airport and New York's John F. Kennedy

International Airport were among the hardest hit.

Major U.S. carriers rolled out ​sweeping ‍travel waivers and

flexible re-booking options to assist passengers whose travel

plans were disrupted by the cancellations.

Airline operations are highly interconnected, ​meaning

cancellations can leave aircraft and crews out of position,

complicating efforts to restore normal flight schedules.

The storm also impeded road travel. The Federal Emergency

Management Agency warned that driving conditions could become

dangerous as blizzard-like conditions, strong winds and ice

spread further.

Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of customers across several

U.S. states, from ​Tennessee to the Carolinas, reported power

outages, with Tennessee reporting the highest number of cases.

More than 820,000 customers were without electricity as of

early hours on Monday, according to ‍data from PowerOutage.us.

(Reporting by Shivansh Tiwary in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini

Ganguli)