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Pounding rain, high winds and the threat of heavy snow are causing power outages and school and ferry closures in parts of the East Coast as a so-called "weather bomb" rolls in.
Power outages are reported across Nova Scotia and New Brunswick due to high winds and heavy rains.
Environment Canada is forecasting gusts of 100 kilometres per hour or more in almost every county of Nova Scotia, P.E.I., northern New Brunswick and the west and north coasts of Newfoundland.
As well as the high westerly winds, northern New Brunswick is expected to see an estimated 20 centimetres of snow.
Coastal regions in eastern New Brunswick are also being warned of winds that could reach 100 km/h.
© Kenny McCubbinStorm force winds expected.
They said the people could be putting themselves in "considerable danger by travelling".
Association of Chief Police Officers of Scotland (Acpos) told STV News that travel should be avoided in the between noon and 7pm in the west and 2pm and 9pm and the Central and Lothian and Borders area.
The Met Office warned of severe weather and gale-force winds on Thursday with councils deciding to close hundreds of schools. Gusts reached 130mph over Aonach Mor, near Ben Nevis, and 102mph over Glen Ogle in the Trossachs.
Red warnings - the higest level of Met Office alerts - were issued for wind in the Strathclyde, central belt, Tayside, Lothians and Borders areas.
© The Associated Press/Kiichiro SatoIn this Feb. 2, 2011 file photo, hundreds of cars are seen stranded on Lake Shore Drive in Chicago after a winter blizzard of historic proportions wobbled an otherwise snow-tough Chicago. America's wild weather year has hit yet another new high: a devastating dozen billion-dollar catastrophes.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Wednesday that it has recalculated the number of weather disasters passing the billion-dollar mark, with two new ones, pushing 2011's total to 12. The two costly additions are the Texas, New Mexico and Arizona wildfires and the mid-June tornadoes and severe weather.
NOAA uses $1 billion as a benchmark for the worst weather disasters. This year's total of a dozen billion-dollar calamities matches the number for all of the 1980s, even when the older figures are adjusted for inflation.
Extreme weather in America this year has killed more than 1,000 people, according to National Weather Service Director Jack Hayes. The dozen billion-dollar disasters alone add up to $52 billion in damage. Hayes, a meteorologist since 1970, said he has never seen a year for extreme weather like this, calling it "the deadly, destructive and relentless 2011."
And this year's total may not stop at 12. Officials are still adding up the damage from the Tropical Storm Lee and the pre-Halloween Northeast snowstorm, and so far they are both at the $750 million mark. And there's still nearly a month left in the year.
© CBCHeavy snow and winds in Whitehorse on Monday, Dec. 5.
High winds and rain sent temperatures up to 14 degrees in Burwash Landing. It was the warmest December day ever for the community on the shores of Kluane Lake.
The community of Haines Junction got the same temperatures, along with some gale-force winds in excess of 100 kilometres per hour.
Haines Junction resident Amy McKinnon says it made a mess of some yards in town.
"Yeah, it was really warm. We woke up to quite a windstorm as well, so there were stories about damaged roofs, trampolines that took flight, tents that ended up in the bush, downed trees all over town, power outages and I heard the winds peaked at over 114 kilometres per hour. So a little more excitement than we wanted," said McKinnon.
Then a cold front sent temperatures plummeting and produced record snowfalls in some areas.
Extreme weather conditions have left thousands of passengers stranded at Perth Domestic Airport and 12,000 homes across Western Australia without power.
At the domestic terminal, Qantas planes have been grounded since mid-morning yesterday as storm activity made conditions dangerous for flying.
Perth Airport yesterday afternoon advised 17 aircraft were waiting to be allocated into bays at the domestic terminal, with airline staff unable to service the planes due to safety concerns.
It is understood Virgin had grounded all flights out of Perth since yesterday morning.
At the domestic terminal, Qantas planes have been grounded since mid-morning yesterday as storm activity made conditions dangerous for flying.
Perth Airport yesterday afternoon advised 17 aircraft were waiting to be allocated into bays at the domestic terminal, with airline staff unable to service the planes due to safety concerns.
It is understood Virgin had grounded all flights out of Perth since yesterday morning.
© Covy Moore/Rocky View PublishingBeiseker's Jim Fox survived two near-misses during the Nov. 27 wind storm that blew through the County causing damage to buildings, trees and homes. Two buildings lost their roofs in the village, including the fire hall.
Wind speeds reaching close to 100 km/h ripped the roofs off several buildings, brought down power lines and sent debris flying in the village.
The Beiseker Fire Station lost its corrugated metal roof in the early afternoon, according to local firefighter Jim Fox.
"It was really scary," he said. "I have never seen wind like that before, it was more like a hurricane."
Fox, the lieutenant in charge at the fire station at the time, was preparing a second crew to assist at a Linden-area grass fire when he heard a horrifying sound.
"All of a sudden, I opened the door and (the roof) peeled up and flew off and landed right in front of me," said Fox. "It was like a freight train coming through."
Resident Fred Walters also lost a portion of his roof.
© Unknown
Snow and ice are affecting roads across Northern Ireland, Scotland and parts of Northern England.
The Met Office has issued severe weather warnings for these areas and police are urging motorists to be aware of the risk of black ice on the roads.
In Northern Ireland showers have been most frequent over counties Londonderry, Antrim, Tyrone, Fermanagh as well as in north Down.
Meanwhile in Scotland the A9 and the M74 have been badly affected. The whole of the A9 is badly affected by snow and ice, especially at Helmsdale, Dalwhinnie and Badenoch. Motorists on the M74 in South Lanarkshire were stuck for three hours southbound after a lorry jackknifed in the snow.
© Reuters/Gene BlevinsResidents look at slabs of the broken concrete pavement and uprooted eucalyptus trees after a heavy wind storm in the morning at Highland Park in Los Angeles, California December 1, 2011.
Southern California Edison said that at mid-afternoon it still had 73,600 customers affected by the outages, which were mainly concentrated along the San Gabriel Valley foothills east of Pasadena.
The area saw "near hurricane force winds" that caused flying debris to knock over power poles, said Edison spokesman Gil Alexander.
Unusually powerful winds first began striking the Los Angeles region on Wednesday night, in a storm that has raised concern among local fire departments about potential wildfires igniting and spreading at lightning speed.
By mid-morning on Saturday, wind gusts of 73 miles per hour were clocked atop a mountain near Acton, 30 miles northeast of Los Angeles, according to automated weather stations.
© TheStar.comSave the car: Fire and rescue department officers and members of the public clearing branches from a tree that uprooted near Balai Seni Lukis Negara on Jalan Tun Razak Sunday evening and fell on a car. The fallen tree blocked the road which resulted in a jam which stretched several kilometers.
The hardest hit areas in the 5pm storm were Kepong, Bandar Menjalara and Hartamas.
Road users on the MRR2 highway near Kepong turned to Twitter to report that the rain was so ferocious that many motorists stopped their vehicles by the roadside to wait it out.
A spokesman from the Fire and Rescue Department (FRD) said while there was very heavy rain, it was the ferocity of the wind which caused more damage as trees were uprooted, branches snapped, billboards and signboards fell, and roof tiles and tents for functions were blown off.
"There were also reports of cars crushed by fallen trees and branches but fortunately, there was no loss of life or injury. We had earlier been warned by the Meteorological Department of the possibility of storms in the Klang Valley and had been prepared for this," he said.
Some 270,000 homes and businesses remained without power for a second day on Friday after powerful winds toppled trees and power lines and left debris across a wide swath of Southern California.
The fierce gusts that tore across Western states Thursday created a path destruction that closed schools and prompted some communities to declare emergencies.
The storms, described as a once-in-a-decade event, were the result of a dramatic difference in pressure between a strong, high-pressure system and a cold, low-pressure system, meteorologists said. This funnels strong winds down mountain canyons and slopes.
The system brought high wind warnings and advisories for California, Utah, Nevada, Wyoming, Arizona and New Mexico. The blustery weather was expected to next hit Oklahoma, Missouri and Indiana.
The fierce gusts that tore across Western states Thursday created a path destruction that closed schools and prompted some communities to declare emergencies.
The storms, described as a once-in-a-decade event, were the result of a dramatic difference in pressure between a strong, high-pressure system and a cold, low-pressure system, meteorologists said. This funnels strong winds down mountain canyons and slopes.
The system brought high wind warnings and advisories for California, Utah, Nevada, Wyoming, Arizona and New Mexico. The blustery weather was expected to next hit Oklahoma, Missouri and Indiana.
