Texas Tornado kills seven as US storm death toll reaches 25

Seven people killed in Texas as tornado strikes several cities near Dallas. Bodies of people reported missing since storms swept across much of the southern US during the week discovered in Mississippi and Alabama.

At least seven people have been killed as tornadoes struck Texas, bringing the total death toll in the US south to 25.

Four of those who died were involved in a car crash, which took place in Garland, 15 miles north east of Dallas in an accident which was attributed to the weather on Saturday night.

Three others were killed in Collin County , about 20 miles north east of Dallas, although the circmstances surrounding their deaths were unclear.

The National Weather Service confirmed tornadoes hit multiple cities around Dallas on Saturday evening. Weather officials said there were reports of debris falling from the sky onto a highway in nearby DeSoto.

In Ellis County, south of Dallas, Stephanie Parker, the emergency management co-ordinator, said: "We have destroyed and damaged homes."

The latest deaths on Saturday came after less than a week of tumultuous weather – unusual warmth, tornadoes and torrential downpours – which sparked flooding and wrought havoc during the Christmas holiday.

Two deaths attributable to weather were reported Saturday in Mississippi: two people who have been missing since Wednesday, bringing that state's death toll to 10. Late Saturday, one death was reported in Alabama.

In Texas, meanwhile, residents hunkered down for what the National Weather Service was calling a "historic blizzard." Some parts of the Panhandle could see as many as 14 inches (356 millimetres) of snow, with sub-zero wind chills and accumulating ice. Residents in Lubbock and Amarillo prepared for a storm expected to begin Saturday night.