Quebec provincial police said it's a miracle a year-old boy was found in good health after he spent a cold night alone in a forest in the province's Eastern Townships.

The child spent about 12 hours in the forest Saturday night wearing just a T-shirt and diaper in rainy, five-degree weather.

He was allegedly abandoned by his father Sunday morning, provincial police said.

Authorities got a call from the boy's mother "telling us that her husband or boyfriend had left the house and was in the vehicle with the one-year-old baby, and that the man had [been drinking], police Sgt. Joyce Kemp said.

Empty vehicle found

Police found the empty vehicle a short while later, and tracked down the father at a hospital in Cowansville early Sunday morning.

That's when authorities realized the baby was lost in the woods, Kemp said.

"We called on the dog handlers, several teams from the emergency units, and also our helicopter," she said. Around noon [Sunday] we were able to locate the child in the forest."

The baby is fine, Kemp said.

The father was arrested and will likely face charges connected to the incident, police said.