Freezing Rain Could Affect Holiday Travellers In Montreal, Ottawa & Quebec City

• A Freezing Rain warning has been issued by Environment Canada for Montreal, Ottawa, and Quebec City today.
• This unfortunate turn of weather means that flights coming or going from airports in these cities may be impacted.
• Check out the information below if you've got holiday travel on the books.
• Visit MTLBlog for more headlines.

Apparently, instead of fluffy white snow, Mother Nature decided freezing rain was going to be the chosen precipitation of the holidays this year, with many cities in Quebec and Ontario facing the repercussions of the slippery stuff. Environment Canada issued a Freezing Rain Warning for Montreal and much of Southern Quebec yesterday, a warning that has stayed in effect into today. The result is more than just slippery roads and sidewalks: Air Canada has updated the flight status for planes leaving Montreal (YUL), Ottawa (YOW), and Quebec City (YQB) due to icy the weather

A Travel Alert was issued yesterday for Montreal and Ottawa due to freezing rain and has yet to be called off. St. John's (YYT) and Gander (YQX) were both under a Snow Travel Advisory yesterday as well.

Today, Quebec City has been added to the Travel Advisory list along with Montreal and Ottawa due to the freezing rain that is expected to last through the morning in many areas.

Air Canada is warning passengers travelling through any of the three airports mentioned above (YUL, YOW, and YQB) that there may be "possible disruptions to Air Canada, Air Canada Rouge and Air Canada Express flights operated by Jazz."

Travel alerts are issued "when forecasted weather or other conditions may cause flight delays and possible cancellations."

The alert for freezing rain has been issued for "All day, December 27, 2019." Luckily, Air Canada has "revised its ticketing policy," so that flyers can make changes to their booking "without penalty, space permitting."

This means you can change your flight free of charge. 

READ ALSO: Freezing Rain Warning Issued For Montreal Is Going To Make For A Very Slippery Commute

West Jet has issued a similar Travel Advisory for passengers flying with them in or out of Montreal, Ottawa or Quebec City due to the freezing rain.

They posted the notice yesterday, December 26, for travel "on or between" December 26 and 27, 2019.

If you are flying with West Jet, you can "find out more about the change and cancel options due to these advisories" at their Advisories page here.

The Weather Network has highlighted when the weather is most likely to impact travel and cause delays at the Montreal airport (YUL).

[rebelmouse-image 26887643 alt="Freezing Rain Could Affect Holiday Travellers In Montreal, Ottawa & Quebec City Today" photo_credit="The Weather Network" expand=1 original_size="893x616"] The Weather Network

According to the forecast above, flights leaving later tonight are the most likely to be impacted, due to the mixed precipitation and freezing rain that Environment Canada has been warning about since yesterday. 

The Weather Network is also reporting that weather at the Quebec City airport (Jean Lesage) is likely to cause most delays this afternoon "due to ice pellets." 

Ottawa seems to be the least impacted according to The Weather Network's expected weather delay forecast.

If you are flying today, remember the weather can't be stopped by anyone, and decisions are made to keep passengers safe. 

So try to hold back any urges to shout at a flight attendant or airline counter staff member... they're just doing their job.