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

Snow, strong winds and bitterly cold temperatures gave Canadians good reason to spend New Year's Day indoors.

According to forecasts issued Thursday night, conditions were expected to worsen in parts of Atlantic Canada until early Friday.

A fierce blizzard that whacked Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island overnight Thursday caused power outages and cancelled flights, thanks to blowing snow and high wind gusts throughout the day.

Forecasters predicted eastern Nova Scotia and Cape Breton would get the worst of the blizzard — between 40 and 60 cm by the end of the day.

Cape Breton was expected to receive an even bigger blast of snow by early Friday.

A cyclist rides past the Old Town Clock on Citadel Hill during a blizzard in Halifax on Thursday. (Andrew Vaughan/Canadian Press)

Almost 11,000 customers in Nova Scotia were without power Thursday night, mostly in Cape Breton.

Utility spokeswoman Glennie Langille said crews were battling strong winds and whiteout conditions through the night.

"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."

Many departures and arrivals at Halifax Stanfield International Airport were cancelled, while several New Year's Day levees have also been called off, including all military, the mayor's and lieutenant-governor's levees.

The storm system will move toward Newfoundland and Labrador later Thursday.

In P.E.I., snowplows were pulled off the roads early Thursday morning because of blowing snow and near-zero visibility. Authorities are warning people to stay off the roads.

"The roads were icy and snow covered," said CBC's Sara Fraser. "It was a bit of a horror story getting to [work] and I'm not sure I'm going to be able to leave any time soon."

Most flights in or out of the Charlottetown Airport have been cancelled or delayed, while the Confederation Bridge, which links the Island with New Brunswick, is closed to high-sided vehicles.

P.E.I. was expected to receive anywhere from 15 to 45 centimetres of snow, while wind gusts could reach as high as 100 km/h.

Stormy Prairies

Snow piles up in Charlottetown on New Year's Day. (Tracy Lightfoot/CBC)

An Alberta Clipper brought snow and high winds to southern Saskatchewan and Manitoba overnight and into Thursday.

Regina and Dauphin remain under blizzard warnings, but the system is expected to weaken Thursday afternoon as it moves into northern Ontario. Thunder Bay could see about five centimetres of snow.

About 5 centimetres of snow has fallen on Vancouver, but is expected to change to rain later this afternoon. The coast will see strong winds throughout the day.

Most of Canada also reported freezing conditions with the wind chill Thursday, including:

• Edmonton: –33 C
• Regina: –35 C
• Montreal: –29 C
• Fredericton: –28 C
• Yellowknife: –41 C

Victoria was the country's hot spot, reporting a wind chill that felt like zero.

CBC meteorologist Johanna Wagstaffe said Canadians can blame the jet stream, a narrow band of strong winds in the atmosphere that control the movement of high and low-pressure systems.

"The jet stream is riding very low and pulling down that Arctic air," said Wagstaffe.

With files from the Canadian Press