Brace yourself for heavy rains and strong winds across southwestern B.C.

Environment Canada has issued a special weather statement forecasting rainfall that might exceed 200 millimetres on the west and inland areas of Vancouver Island from Wednesday (October 12) night through the weekend.

Inner coastal regions may see more than than 100 millimetres of precipitation.

Winds could reach 80 kilometres per hour.

Environment Canada has urged people to report severe weather events to pacifistorm@ec.gc.ca or to tweet with the hashtag #BCStorm.