Some winter break activities off the table for Montrealers dealing with warmer temperatures

It wasn't the white Christmas many Montrealers were hoping for.

There's more green than white this year, and with the warm weather expected to stick around for most of the week, some of the usual winter break activities are off the table.

The Esplanade tranquille, in the Quartier des Spectacles, is one of 10 refrigerated rinks run by the City of Montreal.

"Dealing with climate change, it obliged the city to be agile and adjust our services," said Philippe Sabourin, a city spokesperson.

At Jarry Park, the city no longer plans to allow skaters on the pond because temperatures have been routinely rising above the freezing mark, making it dangerous to operate the snow-clearing machinery.

On Boxing Day, Montreal reached a high of 7 C.

"There's a risk of a breakdown on the ice rink so we don't take any chances," Sabourin said.

Instead, the borough has added two more rinks to the park. However, like the vast majority of rinks in Montreal, they are not refrigerated and are unusable.

Sports economist Moshe Lander said without outdoor rinks, the city's hockey culture will suffer.

"Hockey is an expensive sport, it's probably the most expensive sport in Canada to play," said Lander, a senior economics lecturer at Concordia University.

"The fact that at least you can get access to ice time for free, you can pick up games, you can simulate practices, you can play with your friends, you can play against different levels of people, it's the equivalent to the outdoor basketball court that you would see in the U.S."

Instead, in the first week of winter it's the soccer fields that are buzzing with activity while the rinks sit empty.

Back at the Quartier des Spectacles, it's not the place for a game of pick-up but an example of how Montreal is adapting to a new kind of winter.