Canadians living on the country's eastern provinces have been warned to take necessary precautions against extreme cold weather temperatures following Sunday's heavy snow and high winds.

Toronto issued extreme cold weather alerts, advising residents that temperatures are expected to plummet as much as below -15 C.

Temperatures in Toronto will drop to -16 C, but the wind chill will make it feel as low as -25 C, the National Post reported.

The massive and powerful storm on Sunday has brought dangerous driving conditions as roads turned icy. It likewise caused a number of power outages.

Jeremy March, a meteorologist with Environment Canada, said the storm was widespread. Its clouds covered about 2,500 kilometres, stretching from Labrador to Bermuda. "It was quite a massive system," he said.

The storm dumped significant amounts of snow in eastern New Brunswick, from 41 centimetres in Bathurst to 31 centimetres in Moncton.

About 4,800 customers experienced power outages on Sunday morning, which later ballooned to 7,800 in the evening as the storm passed over Cape Breton, according to Nova Scotia Power.

The massive storm also caused a multi-vehicle pileup that shut the Confederation Bridge which links Maritime provinces New Brunswick and P.E.I.

At least five vehicles on the P.E.I. side of the bridge were involved in the pileup due to deteriorating road conditions and near-zero visibility. No one was reported injured.

"It's been a very busy winter, much busier than the past three or four winters. Hopefully things start to slow down soon because we're getting tired of it," Mr March said.

Video Source? YouTube/ Albert Carter