A New Year's Day blizzard in Bayswater on Nova Scotia's south shore. (Submitted by Daryl Gray)

Flights were cancelled and travellers were urged to stay off Nova Scotia's roads as a major blizzard roared through the province on New Year's Day.

No flights have arrived or departed from Halifax Stanfield International airport since Wednesday night.

Airport spokesman Peter Spurway said not many passengers were stranded at the airport, because they knew well in advance that the flights were cancelled.

He expected it will take several days to clear the backlog after the storm is over.

Other airports in the province also cancelled flights Thursday.

Highway travel was hampered by heavy snows and high winds. Officials urged people to stay off the roads because of the poor visibility unless they really had to go some place.

Snow drifts caused by high winds on Shrewsbury Rd. in Cole Harbour, N.S. (Submitted by Don Burbidge)

About 11,000 customers were without power as of Thursday night, mostly in Cape Breton, said Nova Scotia Power spokeswoman Glennie Langille.

Crews worked Thursday to fix the problems, but the storm made that difficult in places, she said.

"One of the challenges with high winds and snow is problem trees — trees touching lines, trees coming down on lines," Langille said.

"It's a severe winter storm."

Cape Breton is expected to receive an even bigger blast of snow on Friday.

Meanwhile, the lieutenant-governor's levee in Halifax was cancelled Thursday. Mayor Peter Kelly also rescheduled his levee to Sunday.

The Department of National Defence cancelled all military levees in the Halifax area.

The CBC's Storm Centre website has a complete list of cancellations.

With files from the Canadian Press