Freezing rain leads to school closures north of Montreal

Montreal's sidewalks and roads are a slippery and slushy mess after acombination of freezing rain followed by warm weather.

Environment Canadaissued a freezing rain warning fora large portion of southern Quebec, including the Eastern Townships andLanaudireregions. It is no longer in effect for Montreal.

The freezing rain is expected to last a few hours as a warm front moves across eastern and central Quebec.

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The Socitde transport de Montral(STM) advises public transit users to be careful while travelling.

The freezing rainalso forced some school boards in regions north of Montreal to close for the day. The Sir Wilfrid Laurier School Board has cancelled classes for theday in Laval, the Lanaudireregion and the Laurentians.

Air Canada has issued a travel alert amid freezing rain warnings to allow customers to change their plans if necessary. The airline has also waived fees for travellers wishing to switch their flights.

The weather agency also issued a rainfall warningfor areas such as Quebec City and the Mauricieregions, which could get up to 40 millimetres of rain by Friday.

The heavy rain, combined with snow, could lead to tricky driving conditions. There is the possibility of flash foodsand water pooling on the roads, according to Environment Canada.

Localized flooding in low-lying areas is also possible.

Snow, cold weather on the way

After the rain, a shift back toward winter weather is in the forecast.

Environment Canada issued a special weather statement for most of southern Quebec for this weekend, warning the rain will turn to snow starting as early as Friday.

While it will be a balmy 8 C in Montreal over the next two days,the cold will quickly set in again. There will be a high of 9 C this weekend.

The cold front will bring significant snowfallthroughout the day Saturday. It could be mixed with ice pellets or freezing rain.

Montreal asks for patience

In Montreal, snow-removal operations are still underway. They began last weekend, when the city saw about 20 centimetres of snow fall.

As of Thursday morning, about 60 per cent of streets have been cleared.

Philippe Sabourin, aspokesperson for the city, said that snow removal was slowed down this morning in order to allow crews to focus on putting abrasives on icy sidewalks.

Most major arteries have been cleared and the city is now tackling residential streets.

ManyMontrealers have expressed frustration with the service, but Sabourinsaidemployees are working hard to clear all the roads.

"We're asking people to be patient because we're coming," he said. "We're there."