Around 200 holiday skiers in the Italian Dolomites have been winched to safety after getting stranded in cable car cabins buffeted by 130km/hr winds.

The Ciampinoi cable car in the popular Val Gardena resort ground to a halt after a huge tree was blown over onto the cable, local officials said.

Amid fears the cable could snap, mountain rescue experts and firefighters were lowered on to the cabins from helicopters.

They then freed the skiers from around 20 different cabins using ropes and succeeded in getting everyone off without any serious injuries.

The drama came as stormy weather caused havoc across much of northern Italy and claimed at least two lives.

Plane skids off runway at NY's La Guardia

In the US, an airplane skidded off the runway and ploughed into a fence after landing at New York's LaGuardia airport in a snow storm, officials said.

Delta flight 1086 from Atlanta to New York skidded off the runaway around 11am (4pm Irish time) with 125 passengers on board after landing, the airline reported.

Local media reported some on board suffered light injuries.

The plane's nose was lodged in the fence after the crash, and passengers could be seen climbing out through an exit over a wing and trudging through thick snow.

New York Fire Department said on Twitter there was a fuel leak after the MD88 aircraft crashed.

"Customers deplaned via aircraft slides and have moved to the terminal on buses. Our priority is ensuring our customers and crew members are safe," Delta said in a statement.

Delta vowed to "work with all authorities and stakeholders to look into what happened in this incident."

In a Twitter message, the airport said its runways were closed and warned travellers to expect cancellations and delays.

Forecasters had warned of low visibility as a major storm hit the region, with more than 40% of La Guardia flights cancelled early today, according to flightaware.com.