Schools and major sections of highways closed Monday after New Brunswickers across the province woke up to warnings of freezing rain.
Environment Canada warns of an ice cover on roads and other outdoor surfaces after a nightly freezing rain.
Freezing rain is expected to continue Monday through Tuesday morning, the weather advisory says, in all parts of the province except along the Fundy coast.
All school districts are closed due to the weather. All NBCC campuses except Moncton are closed all Monday, as is Sussex Christian School.
More than 11,000 NBPower customers in the Moncton and Shediac regions are without power.
Vitalité Health Network said all of its clinics in northwestern New Brunswick and in the Bathurst area and Acadian Peninsula are closed.
The Haut-Madawaska Medical Clinic is closed all day. Community mental health and public health centers in Caraquet, Shippigan and Tracadie will be closed until 1 p.m. A decision on whether to open at noon will be announced late in the morning, the health authority says.
Significant icing due to the freezing rain is expected or already underway.
According to road condition advisories, sections of some highways are impassable. New Brunswick 511 lists 20 freeway closures as of 8 a.m. Monday. Several accidents have also been reported causing further delays on the highway
Driving conditions on much of the Trans-Canada Highway are extremely poor, RCMP said.
Environment Canada is forecasting an extended spell of ice pellets and freezing rain Monday morning and tonight.
“Surfaces such as highways, roads, sidewalks and parking lots will become icy, slippery and extremely dangerous,” the weather advisory says. “Beware of branches or electrical wires that can break under the weight of ice.”
Areas along the coast of Fundy and southeastern New Brunswick also have a rain warning, with 20 to 30 millimeters of rain expected.