VANCOUVER - The City of Vancouver is making extra shelter space available as temperatures are expected to dip near the freezing mark overnight.

In a message on Twitter Tuesday, the city said an "extreme weather alert" is in place because of the forecast. Environment Canada predicts a low of around 5 C Tuesday night, but it could be as cool as 1 C by early Wednesday morning.

The weather agency expects Wednesday to be sunny with a high of 8 C. 

There will be an extra 15 mats for youth at the Directions Youth Services Centre on Burrard Street overnight. Another 25 mats will be available at the First Baptist Church on Burrard, and 40 at the Evelyne Saller Centre on Alexander Street.

Five spaces for women and 15 for men will be available at the Salvation Army Belkin House on Homer Street.

"If you are sleeping outside, please come to the safety of the shelters!" the city wrote.

Anyone looking for more information is advised to call 211.

"Temporary shelters save lives by connecting homeless residents with necessary health, social and housing services," the city says on its Winter Response Strategy site. 

Vancouver has a variety of shelter options, including spaces only opened during what it deems extreme weather.

The criteria for an extreme weather alert includes temperatures near zero with rainfall heavy enough that it's difficult or impossible for a homeless person to stay dry. Alerts may be issued due to sleet or freezing rain, snow accumulation, sustained high winds, wind chill or rainfall of at least 50 millimetres in a 24-hour period.

Should the temperature dip below -5 C, the city will open warming centres as a live-saving measure. The warming areas are in community centres and other public buildings.

To get Environment Canada weather warnings and alerts sent straight to your phone, download CTV Vancouver's free Weather Watch app. Check out this page for more information, including how to download. Send photos through the app and we might use them on air and on Instagram.