Lights back on for almost all BC Hydro customers who lost power in strong winds

British Columbia's Crown utility says crews have restored power to 95 per cent of some 290,000 businesses and homes that were in the dark at some point Monday as strong winds battered coastal areas and parts of the central Interior.

BC Hydro says crews have been working around the clock to replace dozens of spans of power lines as well as power poles knocked down by toppled trees.

Environment Canada had issued now-lifted wind warnings for most of the south and central coast, including Metro Vancouver, where the weather office said gusts of wind were expected to reach speeds of up to 100 kilometres an hour.

A statement from BC Hydro says it expects to restore power throughout Tuesday to most of the remaining customers whose lights remain out.

But the utility says it's possible the outage will continue for "small pockets" in areas with significant damage.

The outage map shows close to 10,000 customers remain without power in the Lower Mainland and on the Sunshine Coast, with about 5,500 on Vancouver Island.

Environment Canada has also lifted winter storm warnings that covered the Coquihalla Highway from Hope to Merritt and Highway 3 from the Paulson summit area to the Kootenay Pass, which saw significant snow overnight.