Montreal-area residents woke Saturday to icy streetscapes, as a night of freezing rain led to flight cancellations, dangerous driving conditions, as well as bridge closures south of the city as flooding risks rose.

About 145 flights were delayed or cancelled at Pierre Elliot Trudeau Airport, in fact all operations were suspended for a while at 4:30 a.m., due to the freezing rain. Thirty-nine departures were cancelled and 36 arrivals were cancelled, while all other flights were delayed during that time.

Flights resumed about two hours later and airport brass announced at around noon that "operations are gradually starting back" but were still urging travellers to check with their carriers for possible schedule changes.

The freezing rain warning was lifted for Montreal late Saturday morning as heavy rain began to fall, but the warning remained in effect for much of the southern part of the province, which was expected to be battered between anywhere from two to 10 millimeters of the icy pellets.

The icy conditions led many hardware stores to run out of salt, as CTV Montreal's Kevin Gallagher found several Montreal-area stores that had sold out their entire supplies Saturday afternoon. One merchant reported that his store's entire supply, up to 45 bags, had all been swooped up by early shoppers.

And while salt was a hot seller, the skiing industry, which normally makes its profits at this time of year, was not enjoying the same fortunes.

“The busy season is supposedly starting but unfortunately the weather is not backing it up,” said Mark Chamanday-Cook of the Austrian Ski Shop.

Flood worries

By about 11 a.m. temperatures had risen sufficiently to turn the freezing rain to its purely aquatic form, creating a less-menacing inconvenience in the form of puddles, but many rivers were at risk of flooding and several bridges were closed south of the St. Lawrence River.

There was no sign of flooding in Laval but precautions were being taken.

"We are preparing for the worst, so if anything happens we have sandbags ready," said Nathalie Lorrain of the Laval Police.

The temperature rose to as high as eight degrees Saturday, 15 degrees warmer than the same date last year.