Thousands of people in Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick were without electricity Wednesday morning as winds of up to 100 km/h swept through through Atlantic Canada.

Nova Scotia Power said electricity was restored to about 100,000 customers overnight, but roughly 25,000 were still without service.

As many as 11,000 P.E.I. residents also lost power, Maritime Electric reported. Another 8,500 homes and businesses were in the dark in southeastern New Brunswick, but only 650 remained without power by late Wednesday morning.

High winds and up to 70 mm of rain knocked out power across mainland Nova Scotia overnight. Winds were still gusting at 77 km/h in parts of Cape Breton Wednesday morning.

Margaret Murphy, a spokesperson for Nova Scotia Power, said the winds were especially severe in the Windsor and Bridgewater areas.

The power outages and high winds had an impact at Halifax International Airport. Several flights into and out of the province were delayed or cancelled. Travellers were being told to check with their airlines before heading to the airport.

The high wind was also keeping Marine Atlantic ferries in port. The Caribou was docked in North Sydney, with passengers on board and ready to go as soon as the winds abated.

High-sided vehicles such as trucks were still being barred from the Confederation Bridge linking New Brunswick to P.E.I. early Wednesday morning. Wind speeds at the bridge peaked overnight at 99 km/h, with gusts up to 121 km/h.

Northumberland Ferries, which transports vehicles between Nova Scotia and P.E.I., was able to resume its regular schedule Wednesday morning.

Hundreds of basements were flooded and many roads had to be closed as 70 mm of rain fell on the New Brunswick cities of Fredericton and Saint John.

Meanwhile, gusts of wind up to 150 km/h were hitting parts of southwestern Newfoundland, with power outages reported in the Corner Brook area.

A Coast Guard ship and a number of fishing boats had to stop their search for a small boat off the province's south coast due to stormy weather Wednesday.

A search and rescue plane and a helicopter are still searching for the 7.5-metre fishing boat, which did not return to Belleoram as expected Tuesday. A man in his 40s and two teenage boys are onboard.