Heavy snowfall has left thousands of people without electricity and Nova Scotia power estimates it could take until midnight before crews are able to restore electricity to many homes in the northern part of the province, many of which have been in the dark since Friday evening.

About 51,800 customers were without power at 7:30 a.m. Saturday. The outages affect about two dozen communities and range from Yarmouth to Dartmouth, Tatamagouche to Sydney.

While some areas such as Bridgewater are expected to see power back on around noon Saturday, service to parts of Guysborough isn’t expected to return until 5:45 a.m. on Sunday.

The Department of Transportation says crews are working to clear and salt roads, some of which received as much as 30 centimetres of snow.

It is advising that the main roads in Cape Breton are still covered in snow and visibility is poor.

Friday night Nova Scotia Power said the nor’easter’s impact was interfering with crews’ ability to repair power lines as the heavy snow pushed trees onto them.

A spokeswoman said crews were coming from New Brunswick Power Saturday to assist with the restoration work in some of the hardest-hit areas.

Environment Canada says light snow will continue Saturday morning on the mainland with light winds and a mix of sun and cloud.

In Cape Breton, snow and blowing snow are expected to continue until noon with winds gusting to 70 km/h this morning.

In the storm’s aftermath, many arrivals and departures At the Halifax Stanfield International Airport are cancelled or delayed.

Marine Atlantic sailings between North Sydney, N.S., and Port aux Basques, N.L., have been cancelled.

The poor weather forced crews to cancel work planned for the Angus L. Macdonald Bridge. It will now remain open all weekend.