B.C. windstorm leaves 120K without power in Lower Mainland, valley
Published 4:49 am Wednesday, December 17, 2025
Around 120,000 customers were left without power overnight across the Lower Mainland and Sunshine Coast as a major windstorm battered British Columbia’s South Coast in the early morning hours of Wednesday, Dec. 17.
As of 6 a.m. Wednesday, BC Hydro is reporting 120,000 customers without power as wind gusts reach up to 100 km/h in parts of the Fraser Valley.
“A powerful windstorm combined with heavy rainfall overnight has left about 120,000 BC Hydro customers without electricity, primarily across the Lower Mainland,” the 6 a.m. BC Hydro post said.
“This marks the third major weather-related outage event this week. Crews are working around the clock in challenging conditions to restore service as quickly and safely as possible.”
Hardest-hit areas included Surrey (18,4000 customers without power), Vancouver (11,200 customers), Port Coquitlam (12,500 customers), Burnaby (11,700 customers), Maple Ridge (11,200 customers), and North Vancouver (10,000 customers without power).
Three schools in Surrey were also closed Wednesday due to power outages: LA Matheson Secondary, Kirkbride Elementary and Royal Heights Elementary.
Delta also has multiple outages, with the largest affecting 1,535 customers in Delta, Surrey and New Westminster.
Abbotsford also has thousands of customers without power in multiple outages, the largest being two outages on the Abbotsford-Langley border affecting 5,646 customers.
Numerous outages have been caused by treefall on power lines, poles and other hydro infrastructure, according to BC Hydro’s website.
Environment Canada says a “vigorous cold front” has brought strong southwesterly winds funnelling up through the region, producing wind gusts of up to 100 km/h in the central and eastern parts of the Valley.
A yellow wind warning for wind is in effect for the central and eastern Fraser Valley, including Chilliwack and Hope, while Hope is also under a yellow warning for rainfall with 60 to 80 mm of rain expected.
Metro Vancouver – including Surrey, Delta, White Rock and Langley, as well as areas north of the Fraser River – is under a special weather statement, with wind gusts up to 80 km/h.
B.C. WINDSTORM UPDATES:
BC Hydro power outages: https://www.bchydro.com/safety-outages/power-outages.html
Environment Canada weather alerts: https://weather.gc.ca/?alertTableFilterProv=BC
