Weather-related blackouts hit Quebec and the Maritimes

Violent winds crossing the Maritimes knocked out power to tens of thousands of residents in the region on Monday.

In Quebec, weather conditions led to thousands of Hydro-Québec customers losing electricity in the evening.

In the Atlantic provinces, most of the power outages were in Nova Scotia, where nearly 41,000 customers were still in the dark at 3:30 p.m. local time, while nearly 27,000 customers in New Brunswick and just over 11,000 in Prince Edward Island were affected.

The blackouts in Nova Scotia mainly affected the north of the province, as well as the Halifax region and the Annapolis Valley.

Environment Canada said the three provinces could feel gusts of between 80 and 100 kilometres per hour in the evening.

A rainfall warning was also issued for New Brunswick, where forecasts were calling for between 40 and 70 millimetres of precipitation throughout the day. Ferry service was also affected across the region, with Marine Atlantic cancelling sailings between Port-aux-Basques, Newfoundland and Labrador, and North Sydney, Nova Scotia.

MORE THAN 14,000 CUSTOMERS IN THE DARK IN QUEBEC

Several regions of Quebec were also subject to weather warnings on Monday morning -- some for snowfall and others for heavy rain.

Weather watches and warnings for Eastern Canada on Dec. 11, 2023.

The eastern regions were expected to be the worst affected until the evening, with winds expected to pick up in the region during the day.

At around 5 p.m. on Monday, more than 14,000 Hydro-Québec customers were still without power.

The worst affected region was the Eastern Townships, where more than 9,000 people were still in the dark. In the Chaudière-Appalaches region, more than 2,000 customers were without power, as were 1,500 in Centre-du-Québec.

Snowfall was expected to reach 10 centimetres in Saint-Georges, Montmagny, Rimouski and Matane.

Seven-day forecast for Montreal starting Dec. 11, 2023.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Dec. 11, 2023.