Extreme cold and snowfall warnings in effect across B.C.

It's officially c-c-cold in B.C.

The coldest temperatures of the season have struck the province, knocking out power andprompting Environment Canada to issue extreme cold and snowfall warnings.

According to the weather agency, temperatures could dip to 40 C overnightin multiple communitiesin the Interior including 100 Mile House, the Peace River Regional District, Quesnel and Williams Lake as an arctic ridge settles over the region.

Dan Moses, intake worker attheCariboo Friendship Society'shomeless shelterin WilliamsLake, said staffare goingto local parks and railroad bridgeswhere homeless people are known to stay to offer them beds indoors.

Moses said the shelter was near capacity Sunday afternoon but addedno one will be turned away.

In northern parts of the province, such as DeaseLake,the mercury could drop as low as45 C.

"People should be careful when they go out," said MikeGismondi, meteorologist with Environment Canada. "Make sure they're bundled up."

Power outages

As of 8 a.m. Monday morning, BCHydro reportedoutages mostly fromfallentree branchesdamaging power lines affecting approximately 11,000customers. The Lower Mainland and Sunshine Coast regions aremost affected with problems in Abbotsford, Bowen Island, BurnabyChilliwack, Harrison Hot Springs, Kent, Langleyand Mission.

Over 2,250 customers on Pender Island are also without power.

Chilly on the South Coast

Temperatures in Metro Vancouver and the South Coast are not as frigid, but are 5-10 C below the average for this time of year.

The temperature with wind chill in Vancouver hit a low of 12C Monday morning.

The FraserValley, Howe Sound and Whistler are under arctic outflow weather warnings with "bitterly cold" conditions in the forecast.

In Chilliwack,the temperature after windchill dipped to20C. Whistler was seeing21C.

Additional shelter spaces have opened across the Lower Mainland to help people get out of the cold.

In Victoria, an extreme weather protocol has been activated. Under that program,the shelter capacity expands from 365to 465emergency shelter beds and mats.

A list of available beds can be found here.

Drivers are warned to use extreme caution on the roads, to have jumper cables in their vehicles and to watch out for snowplows on the roads.

Not long after the snow began in Abbotsford, B.C., amulti-vehicle crash near the Whatcom Road exit closed westbound lanes onHighway 1 for several hours.