January 23, 2019 - 15:54 AMT
Part of Niagara Falls freezes to create a stunning view

Photographers are flocking to Niagara Falls after an icy storm system left the region looking like a scene out of the Disney movie Frozen.

Snow and ice has built up around the iconic waterfall, creating stunning scenes for visitors, ABC News says.

Contributing to the icy vista was a weather system moving over North America from west to east, which the US National Weather Service said was strengthened by Arctic air from Canada.

Visitors willing to brave the cold were rewarded with incredible photo opportunities — but while social media was abuzz with the "frozen falls", it is highly unlikely Niagara Falls will actually freeze over.

Mist and spray from the falls freezes in the low temperatures and forms a icy crust over the falling water, Niagara Parks said, make it appear as though the falls have stopped.

But the water continues to flow under the sheets of ice.

"The only documented incident of the falls being frozen completely came in March of 1848 when the Buffalo Express Newspaper stated the cause to be ice damming at the mouth of Lake Erie," US State Parks spokeswoman Kristin King explained in a blog post.

Photo. Reuters