Schools are closed and travel was treacherous in parts of the Maritimes today as a messy storm moved through the region.

Environment Canada had issued a slew of weather statements and warnings that said snow would switch to heavy rains, creating a slippery mess for drivers.

Nova Scotia was expected to get about 10 centimetres of snow and up to 35 millimetres of rain, along with winds in Cape Breton that could gust to 100 kilometres an hour.

Prince Edward Island was also forecast to get winds gusting to 90 km/h and snowfall amounts of almost 10 cm.

The weather agency says New Brunswick was likely to bear the brunt of the storm with forecasts of up to 40 cm by Thursday morning.

Schools were closed throughout Nova Scotia, northern and eastern New Brunswick and much of P.E.I.

Snow turning to ice pellets and rain early Wednesday morning, during the morning commute made for a very slushy drive.

That water began to pool along streets and highways and in some places and was deep enough to threaten car engines.

At an overpass in Bayers Lake, water on the road is virtually level to the sidewalk. There were similar situations in many parts of the Halifax Regional Municipality.

City crews had to clear storm drains on Susie Lake Cres. Flooding forced Mission Mart to close Wednesday, according to a sign on the front door.

Flight cancellations were plentiful in Halifax at the region’s busiest airport creating a sea of orange and red on arrival and departure boards.

Some passengers were stuck on the tarmac for three hours waiting to get out.

“We did have two diversions as well as a few cancellations and numerous delays,” said Halifax Stanfield International airport spokeswoman Theresa Rath. “Those delays are continuing as we speak because there’s a trickledown effect so when we have delays in the morning it then causes delays later in the afternoon. But we did start to see flights take off and land around 10:30 a.m., so we did have a period of time where that couldn’t happen due to the weather and runway conditions.”

In New Brunswick it was snow that was causing disruptions.  Some schools were closed and flights were delayed.

In Moncton, plows were out in full force and Several flights out of Moncton airport were cancelled because of the storm.

Halifax lifted the enforcement of the winter parking ban, but was asking people to help clear storm drains to prevent flooding.

With files from CTV Atlantic’s Suzette Belliveau, Kate Walker, and The Canadian Press.