Freezing rain leads to treacherous roads, thousands without power

Parts of Quebec are still under winter storm and snowfall warnings following a blast of wintry weather Tuesday that created difficult driving conditions across much of the province.

Hydro-Québec crews are also still working as of Wednesday afternoon to restore power to thousands of Quebecers.

Ice accumulation on tree branches, caused by a few hours of freezing rainfall, weighed down those branches to the point where they touched power lines, knocking out electricity to a number of homes and businesses across the province.

• Consult Hydro's detailed outage map here

As of 11 p.m. more than 61,000 clients were still without power across the province Wednesday night.

The hardest hit regions are the Outaouais, Laurentians and the western part of the Montérégie.

Hydro-Québec spokeswoman Geneviève Chouinard said crews were out all night trying to restore power.

But despite their efforts, Chouinard said since the wind is picking up, that may cause more branches to break, which in turn may cause more outages.

There are now 300 crews on the ground, said the utility.

Quebecers digging out, again

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Quebec City got over 15 cms of snow overnight and there's more on the way.

More winter weather for central, eastern Quebec

Transports Québec is reporting highways across the province are partially or completely snow covered.

The Montreal area is being spared the worst of the storm, but other regions of Quebec can expect more snow throughout the day.

Those living anywhere from Trois-Rivières east to the Gaspé coast are expected to get between five and 25 centimetres of snow by the end of Wednesday.

Quebec City residents woke up to 15 centimetres with another five to 10 on the way.

In addition to getting more snow and high winds, areas along the Gulf of St. Lawrence are also under a storm surge warning.

Environment Canada says strong waves could produce breaking sea conditions along the coast today, in some areas up until 8 p.m.

Sept-Îles, Anticosti Island as well as Percé, on the Gaspé Peninsula, are some of the places that are under the warning.

• Power outages, downed trees as freezing rain, snow hits Ottawa, Outaouais

Hard commute

Orléans Express, the province's principal inter-city bus company, has issued a warning to people travelling to points east of Lévis to expect delays and cancellations on its network and in the Maritimes.

The ferry between Entry Island and Cap-aux-Meules is cancelled for the day. The weather has also led to the delay of ferry services between Quebec's North Shore and Matane.

Departures between Tadoussac and Baie-Sainte-Catherine have returned to their regular schedule as of Wednesday afternoon.