Winter weather travel advisory before Christmas

Anyone planning to travel is being urged to be prepared as 5 to 15 cm of snow could hit a large portion of southern Ontario on Monday.

Environment Canada issued a winter weather travel advisory early Monday morning. The weather advisory states snow is expected to begin this morning and continue into the night.

Areas near Waterloo Region and Guelph may get a short break in the afternoon before the snow returns early in the evening.

Environment Canada said the snow may become heavy at times and visibility may be reduced.

They warn the evening commute will likely be affected.

The snow is expected to taper off to flurries late Monday night but there is also a risk of freezing drizzle.

Travel time

The winter wallop, during one of the busiest times to travel.

“There's a lot of movement. It's a little different than your regular Monday to Friday commute,” Sgt. Schmidt said.

OPP said to drive with caution and give yourself extra time.

“By driving aggressively and without attention and care for other motorists, you're not going to save any time and you're really putting yourself and everybody else at extreme risk,” he said.

At Pearson International Airport, they’ve added staff to prepare for the snow event and to ensure everything goes smoothly.

“Snow plows or ground side snow plows will be out in force cleaning our roadways. Just a reminder to anybody picking up passengers traveling to Pearson, just avoid the curbs. We do have that cell phone lot available,” said Michael Tomas, airport duty manager.

At the Region of Waterloo International Airport, staff said flights be delayed or cancelled so always check your flights in advance.

White Christmas

Environment Canada said the bright side is we might be in for a white Christmas.

“Certainly after tomorrow we're going to see just flurries and we'll have that Christmas card look. We're going to have that white cover across the city,” said Dave Phillips from Environment Canada.