Cold snap in Quebec triggers power outages and flight cancellations

Freezing temperatures were still disrupting air traffic in the east of the country on Sunday morning, leading to the cancellation of about 40 flights departing from Montreal, mainly to the United States and Toronto, according to the website of Aéroports de Montréal. 

Several homes in Montreal were without power when they woke up, with the wind chill making it feel like minus-29 C degrees Celsius.

On Sunday morning, around 10:45 a.m., Hydro-Québec reported just over 16,000 addresses without electricity, mainly in Montreal (12,000), where the situation had improved little since the previous day.

As of 2:00 p.m., 12,538 addresses lost service, 9,266 including in Montreal, 196 in Montérégie and 74 in Laurentians, according to Hydro-Québec.

Around 5 p.m. on Saturday, Hydro-Québec reported nearly 30,000 power outages across Quebec, affecting more than 15,000 of its customers in the metropolitan area.

The situation had, however, improved significantly in Montérégie, where only 200 addresses remained without electricity around 10:45 a.m., while in Estrie, approximately 300 homes and businesses were without electricity.

At the same time, the Outaouais region was the second most affected by power outages, with approximately 2900 addresses still without electricity. 

Environment and Climate Change Canada had maintained several cold weather warnings in the province with a wind chill of minus-35 C degrees Celsius in the morning.

After the biting cold, an accumulation of 10 to 20 centimetres of snow was expected in southern and eastern Quebec from the afternoon until Monday evening, according to the forecast. 

There could be blowing snow in some areas, resulting in reduced visibility on the roads.

–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews