Strong winds sweeping across northern British Columbia have knocked out power for thousands with some outages expected to last overnight.

B.C. Hydro says about 14,000 customers were without electricity Saturday night as heavy winds damaged power lines across the region.

Crews are working to restore power, but the utility says ongoing winds could slow repairs and leave some customers in the dark overnight.

The outages are affecting several communities in the north along B.C. Highway 16, 37 and 37 A, including Terrace, Burns Lake, Hazelton, Kitimat, Prince Rupert, Smithers and Stewart.

DriveBC is warning travellers in the region to watch for fallen trees and debris on the roads.

The outages come as Environment and Climate Change Canada issued several wind and rainfall alerts across parts of the province early Saturday morning.

Wind warnings are in place for areas like the Chilcotin region near Anahim Lake and Nimpo Lake, as well as parts of northern B.C., including the Prince George area.

In both the north and south Peace River region, strong winds are expected through the weekend. Gusts have blown close to 90 kilometres per hour, and later on may strengthen to up to 100 km/h.

Environment Canada says a high pressure system is coming up and impacting the B.C. coast but the winds are expected to ease by Sunday morning.

The weather agency says next weekend could look much stormier as there is a chance of an atmospheric river, but that will depend on where the system comes on shore.

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