Heavy rains, high winds hitting southwest B.C.

Parts of southwestern British Columbia including Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland are gearing up for a soggy Christmas with a series of rainfall and wind warnings in place.

Pacific Rim National Park Reserve on Vancouver Island has issued a warning asking visitors to stay away from beaches and shorelines.

The park is expecting high tides, heavy rains and seven-metre swells, which could lead to flooded parking lots, floating logs, strong ocean surges and blown-down trees until Christmas Day, according to an Environment Canada advisory.

The weather agency has issued wind and rainfall warnings covering all of Vancouver Island, the Lower Mainland and much of the province's central coast.

Some areas were expecting as much as 110 millimetres of rain by Friday night, with wind gusts of up to 90 km/h.

A similar rainfall warning has been issued for Metro Vancouver, and a snowfall warning is in place in Whistler.

Environment Canada says the storm is a result of a stalled frontal system over the south coast.