Much of the United States will either get a White Christmas or a bitterly cold one, as the forecasts for the country see snowstorms and temperatures in the deep south as low as the 20s.   

Forecasters are warning of treacherous holiday travel and life-threatening cold for much of the nation as an arctic air mass blows into the already-frigid southern United States, with experts predicting the 'coldest Christmas in years.'

The coming week has the potential for 'the coldest air of the season' as the strong arctic front marches across the eastern two-thirds of the country in the days before Christmas, according to the latest forecasts from the federal Weather Prediction Center. 

The National Weather Service is predicting a 'major snowstorm' from the southwest and midwest to the eastern seaboard on next weekend, as Christmas arrives on Sunday.  

According to AccuWeather, the storm may begin Wednesday in the Rockies, with snow potentially showing up as far south as Dallas and Nashville. 

The storm will likely head toward the east coast, but as rain, as we hit the weekend, with one meteorologist telling the New York Daily News that flight delays and cancellations are to be expected.

Regardless of weather you get snow or just freezing rain, you can be expecting a chill as Santa arrives on December 25. 

'We're looking at much-below normal temperatures, potentially record-low temperatures leading up to the Christmas holiday,' said Zack Taylor, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.

The polar air arrives as an earlier storm system gradually winds down in the northeastern U.S. after burying parts of the region under two feet of snow.