Heavy snow and wind cancel classes, disrupt travel in Maritimes

High winds and heavy snow throughout the day Wednesdayshut down schools across the Maritimes, withsnow-covered roads making driving difficult and some flights delayed or cancelled in all three provinces.

The weather has also kept some ferries in port.

Schools in theHalifax Regional Centre for Education, the Cape Breton Centre for Education, the South Shore Regional Centre for Educationand the Tri-County Regional Centre for Educationare all closed.

Many francophone schools in southeastNew Brunswick and the Anglophone East School District are shut down, and all public schools and French-language schools are cancelled in Prince Edward Island.

• For the latest cancellations check out CBC Nova Scotia'sStorm Centre
• For the latest cancellations check out CBC New Brunswick's Storm Centre
• For the latest cancellations check out CBC PEI's Storm Centre

Nova Scotia is expected to be hardest hit by the weather.

Environment Canada has issued a heavy snowfall warning for much of the province, with mainland areas expected to get as much as 20 to 35 centimetresof snow.

Cape Breton could see 35 centimetres,with parts of the Highlands getting even more.There is also a chance the snow in Cape Breton will be mixed with rain.

Northerly winds are expected to gust upto around 60 km/h for much of the day and into the evening. Cape Breton could get gusts of up to 80 km/h.

In southern New Brunswick, fiveto 10 centimetresof snow areexpected, with winds getting up to around 50 km/h, according to CBC meteorologist Tina Simpkin.Northern New Brunswick will mostly avoid the storm, with only twocentimetresof snow. P.E.I.will bemuch the same, with as little as five centimetresexpected in the west and up to 20 centimetresin the east. Winds are expected to be up to 50 km/h during the day, with gusts up to 60 km/h overnight.

It's expected thewinds will kick up the snow and reduce visibility, making for poor driving conditions.

Rapidly accumulating snow will make travel difficult and may have a significant impact on rush-hour traffic in urban areas, according toEnvironment Canada's snowfall warning for much of Nova Scotia.

The Marine Atlantic ferry service between Nova Scotia andNewfoundland has cancelled its runs for this morning, and there are numerous cancelled and delayed flights at Halifax Stanfield International Airport.

The strong winds and heavy snow are expected to leave the region by Thursday morning, saidCBCmeteorologist Ryan Snoddon. But hesaidthere are three other weather systems set to track across the region Friday through Sunday that could bring more snow, ice and rain.