Canada's first white Christmas in four decades

Toronto, Dec 26 (IANS) With snow blanketing the country from coast to coast Thursday, Canada had its first white Christmas in almost four decades.

Since some parts of the province of British Columbia in western Canada generally don't receive much snowfall, the country has not witnessed a white Christmas since 1971.

With 41 cm of snow Thursday morning, British Columbia's main city Vancouver, in fact, recorded the whitest Christmas in Canada.

Such heavy snowfall was last reported in Vancouver in 1964, when the city witnessed 30 cm of snow. This year, even the province's sunny capital city of Victoria received 40 cm of snowfall.

'We're covered (with snow). Definitely a white Christmas here,' the Canadian Press quoted Environment Canada meteorologist John McIntyre as saying in Vancouver.

'It's the greatest (amount of) snow on the ground for Christmas ever,' he added.

Canada, which recorded the second heaviest snowfall last year, has already been battered by many snowstorms.

With airports across Canada under layers of snow, airlines cancelled flights, forcing thousands of passengers to spend Christmas on the floors of waiting areas.

Hundreds of flights were cancelled from Toronto's Pearson International Airport as Canada's biggest city has blanketed by repeated snow storms.