The Tourism Ministry says it is monitoring, the severe weather conditions, in the United States and Canada and is assessing the impact that it will have on flights to Jamaica.

Millions of people across the United States and Canada, are under winter storm and wind chill alerts, with record low temperatures predicted for both countries.

Thousands of flights were cancelled across both countries today (December 23).

The extreme weather is predicted to continue into next week.

Senior Advisor and Strategist in the Tourism Ministry, Delano Seiveright says the country will be impacted but not to a large extent.

Meanwhile, President of the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association, JHTA, Robin Russell says he also does not expect the winter storm in North America to greatly impact the sector.

A powerful arctic storm is sweeping across the US and Canada, with more than 135 million people under weekend weather alerts ahead of the busiest travel days of the year.

Major airports have cancelled thousands of flights as the storm intensifies.

Mr. Russell notes that the cancellation of some flights into Jamaica has resulted in visitors only delaying their travel.

He says this winter tourist season has so far been exciting, noting that celebrities are among those heading to Jamaica’s shores.

The JHTA President adds that more celebrities are no longer keeping their trips private but are posting about their vacation experience on social media.