After weeks of unseasonably warm weather, the winter deep freeze has arrived in Manitoba.

Wind chill values are expected to make it feel like -40 to -50 across many parts of the province Wednesday night and into Thursday morning. 

The recent cold weather has meant that parts of The Forks river trail was able to open for skaters on Jan. 18.

The trail, however, is limited at the moment with only a small section around The Fork designated for skating.

Other parts of the river normally used for the skating trail remain off limits.

"We've got open water under the Main Street Bridge. We've got open water under the Osborne Bridge. We've got open water north of The Forks on the Red (River)," said Paul Jordan from The Forks.

The river patrol was asking people to stay off the ice in areas outside of the designated safe spots at The Forks.

"You may have good ice in one section and just a couple feet over have real thin ice and break through," said Ray Duma from the police's river patrol.

The river patrol said Winnipeg needs about two more weeks of consistently cold weather for the ice thickness to become safe enough to skate on in other spots.

The recent extreme cold, meanwhile, has also had an impact on driving conditions.

Multiple crashes were reported Wednesday.

RCMP said icy roads and blowing snow have been posing hazards.

"We've also had members pull people over doing high rates of speed, 120 to 130 km/h. They need to adjust their speed," said Cpl. Larry Dalman from the RCMP.

Officers recommend winterizing your car and putting on snow tires. They also suggest having a cellphone available to call for help when travelling. RCMP also recommend people have a survival kit, including blankets, candles and a shovel. 

They also suggested using caution on certain road structures. 

"If you're going over overpasses, bridges, that's where we have a lot of collisions, because it gets very icy on them and people do tend to crash, so the recommendation is don't speed, pass or change lanes when you're going across them," said Dalman. 

With the extreme wind chills, exposed skin can freeze in less than 10 minutes so medical experts advise to dress for the cold. 

Experts suggest people also look out for signs of frostbite. Symptoms include cold, burning pain, or an area of skin that becomes pale or white or even swollen.

People are advised to warm up areas showing signs of frostbite in warm water, without rubbing the skin.

- with a report from CTV's Karen Rocznik