You certainly don’t need us to remind you of what’s going on outside most of your windows. However, given the havoc being caused by the weather to travel plans across this country. Here’s a general overview of what happened in Canada over the holidays.

Ferocious winter weather grounded flights and stranded nine Via Rail trains between Ontario and Quebec on Saturday as snow, freezing rain, high winds and rain hammered much of the country and plunged Christmas Eve and Day travel plans into chaos.

Power outages and impassable roads prompted Ontario’s Niagara region to declare a state of emergency and beg residents to stay off the roads, while New Brunswick grappled with one of the largest power outages to befall the province in decades.

The only provinces or territories not affected by an Environment Canada weather warning or statement as of Saturday early evening were Nunavut and Nova Scotia.

In a tweet Saturday early evening, Via Rail said a CN train derailment forced the cancellation of all trains between Toronto and Ottawa and Toronto and Montreal scheduled for Christmas Day.

Vee Grunda was one of many passengers stranded without food or water aboard a Via Rail train in Cobourg, Ont. She said the train came to a halt around 11 p.m. on Friday and by noon Saturday, many were still on board and seeking answers about what to do next.

Some passengers jumped off the train and ventured into the snow, climbing through backyards in search of a main road, she said.

A replacement train eventually arrived to take Grunda and her fellow passengers on to their destination.

Via Rail said nine trains running between Quebec City and Windsor, Ont., were halted by weather-related power outages or downed trees. Seven more trains were cancelled entirely on Saturday morning.

The company said it tried to keep customers as comfortable as possible and get them to their final destinations, either by getting the frozen trains moving or by bringing new trains that could safely transport passengers.

In southern Ontario, Niagara Region declared a state of emergency, citing “blizzard-like conditions including blowing snow, white out conditions, and at times zero visibility” among many of its municipalities.

“These conditions, combined with wide-spread power outages have created treacherous conditions in many parts of the Region,” read a statement from the region, which appealed to residents to avoid all travel in its southern areas and “specifically the municipalities of Fort Erie, Wainfleet and Port Colborne.”

The Niagara Regional Police Service also appealed to the public to stay home, writing in a news release that emergency crews may be unable to respond to calls because roads were impassable.

“If you are at home without power, please do what you can to conserve heat, help friends, family and neighbours where it is safe to do so,” said a warning on the City of Port Colborne’s website.

By about 5 p.m. Saturday, the massive storm had affected six provinces and was moving over Ontario and Quebec, said Environment Canada meteorologist Victoria Nurse.

Parts of southern and northeastern Ontario would likely see snow squalls coming off the Great Lakes overnight and into Christmas Day, she said.

“It’s definitely a big deal,” she said. “One of the greatest impacts has been the wind that led to so much blowing snow and reduced visibilities and collisions on the roads.

“So, our biggest takeaway today and going into tomorrow is, travel very carefully. Try and avoid travel, but if you have to travel, travel very carefully.”

Hydro One said just under 50,000 customers were without power in Ontario as of Saturday late evening.

In Quebec, Environment Canada warned of heavy snowfall and blowing snow in the southwestern regions of Matagami and Waskaganish, as well as storm surge along the coastal areas of the St. Lawrence River.

Hydro-Quebec reported just over 151,000 customers in the dark on Saturday late evening. The situation prompted a tweet from Premier Francois Legault.

“I know it’s not the Christmas that many hoped for,” he wrote. “Hydro-Quebec teams are doing all they can to reconnect as many homes, as fast as possible.”

“Please, check-in with your loved ones if they live alone. Be careful on the roads, as well, the conditions are not ideal. For those who want to warm up, places are ready to receive you in many cities and municipalities.”

Flights were cancelled and delayed at major airports in Ontario and Quebec and police closed sections of provincial highways due to hazardous driving conditions.

A company statement said WestJet cancelled 60 of its 500 scheduled flights on Saturday. The airline has cancelled 1,307 flights since Dec. 18.

In a statement on Saturday, WestJet said they are “staffed appropriately” for holiday travel.

“The prolonged and extreme weather events that have impacted multiple regions across Canada are unlike anything we’ve experienced. With the recent storms in British Columbia, Southern Ontario and Quebec, we took a proactive and measured approach to protect our operations and prioritize recovery flying,” said WestJet COO Diederik Pen.

“Our teams on the ground, in the air and behind the scenes are working tirelessly to recover our operations, while trying to limit any further disruption to important holiday travel plans.”

WestJet said that any travellers who proactively cancel their flight will receive a full refund to original form of payment, adding that bookings made prior to Dec. 28, can be changed and cancelled without a fee up to two hours before departure for travel between now and Jan. 8, 2023.

Air Canada said Monday “we are in a recovery mode as the severe storms are now past parts of Canada and the weather is normalizing.”

Sunwing, which cancelled flights out of Cancun, said via social media that the baggage belt at Pearson Airport’s Terminal 3 was not working and “as a result, we can’t guarantee that customers’ checked baggage will accompany them on their southbound flights from Toronto.”

In a statement Sunwing said, “we sincerely regret the impact to our customers’ travel plans over the busy holiday period … Our teams are working hard to re-accommodate customers by subservicing aircraft where possible, in addition to arranging alternate hotels and transfers for those in destination with overnight delays.”

On Monday, Pearson said the Terminal 3 baggage was “fully functional since 4:30 a.m. after a combination of cold machinery, delayed arrivals and departing flights caused backups on Christmas Day.”

However, it also warned “some passengers on flights departing from Terminal 3 on December 26 may see baggage delays with machines and airline staff working in extreme cold. Pearson will be working with affected airlines to minimize delays and keep bags flowing.”

Rain and high winds were also forecasted through Christmas Eve in the Maritimes, with the storm projected to move into Newfoundland and Labrador on Saturday night.

A statement from NB Power said over 10,500 customers were without power as of Saturday late evening, with over 71,000 customers in the dark at the peak of the outage.

“This is one of the largest provincewide outage events of the last 25 years,” said company spokesperson Marc Belliveau.

On the other side of the country, most of southern British Columbia was under a rainfall warning. Environment Canada called for accumulations between 25 and 50 millimetres in the Metro Vancouver area, with more expected near the North Shore Mountains.

Vancouver Island could see up to 125 mm, with parts of the island as well as Howe Sound, the North Shore Mountains, Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley all under flood watch on Saturday.

B.C.’s River Forecast Centre said more rain on Sunday through Tuesday may lead to ongoing high flows and persistent flood hazards into next week.

After about half of the flights out of Vancouver International Airport were cancelled Friday, president and CEO Tamara Vrooman said Saturday that the airport was fully operational and about 93 percent of scheduled flights were departing.

“Some cancellations are coming through because of weather events in other parts of the country and other parts of the continent, but for the most part we’re operating as normal here at YVR,” she said.