Several multi-vehicle crashes were reported in Vancouver on Saturday when a blast of winter weather blanketed the city in snow and ice.
At least three people were sent to hospital with serious injuries after ice-covered roads led to pile-ups on major roadways.
Snow and ice are rare in Vancouver, where temperatures rarely drop below 1 C in the winter. After a week of temperatures hovering around the 10 C mark, drivers were caught off-guard by the snow on Saturday.
The temperature in Vancouver dipped to -3 C on Saturday, and it was -8 C in the Fraser Valley.
As a result, police were called to dozens of minor collisions across the city.
A more serious crash on the Trans-Canada Highway left drivers stuck for five hours when a section of the eastbound highway had to be closed in Burnaby.
Police said they saw almost double the usual number of crashes on Saturday because of the weather.
"You do need to change your driving behaviour and slow down," Karen Klein of B.C. insurance provider ICBC told CTV Vancouver.
