Flights cancelled, power out, as Quebec deep freeze continues

Parc Jean-Drapeau during the coldest day of the winter in Montreal. (Jean-Francois Forget/CTV News)

Freezing temperatures continued to disrupt air traffic in eastern Canada on Sunday morning, resulting in the cancellation of some 20 flights departing from Montreal, according to the Aéroports de Montréal website.

Several homes in Montreal were without power when residents woke up to a wind chill factor of -29 degrees Celsius.

On Sunday morning, around 7 a.m., Hydro-Québec reported just over 18,320 addresses without power, mainly in Montreal (14,781), where the situation had improved little since the previous day.

At 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 city.

However, the situation had improved significantly in Montérégie, where only 121 addresses were still in the dark when people woke up on Sunday, while in Estrie, 1,732 homes and businesses were without power.

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

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

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

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Jan. 25, 2026.