Snow, wind close stretch of Cabot Trail in northern Cape Breton

A portion of the Cabot Trail in the North Mountain area ofCape Breton was closed to all traffic Friday because of extreme weather conditions.

The stretch of highway from Pleasant Bay to Intervale wasunder wind and snow squall warnings.

Snow removal and road cleanup crews wereunable to reach the impacted area, which became unpassable around 8 a.m. local time.

"It's dictated by the weather. As soon as the conditions allow us to get back in there to clear, then we will be doing so," said Kelly Deveaux, acting superintendent for Cape Breton Highlands National Park.

"But really, it's driven by the weather and it's those extreme whiteout, zero-visibility conditions that have resulted in this closure."

Deveauxwas unable to say when the road would reopen. Parks Canada wasmonitoring the weather closely and planned to send crews once there was an improvementin visibility.

Environment Canada said snow squalls would continue to causewhiteouts and dangerous driving conditions. Weather warnings in both Victoria and Inverness counties wereexpected to continue throughout the day.

Winds were expected to slowly ease throughout Christmas Day.