It never ends: freezing rain arrives in time for Wednesday afternoon commute

First, the good news: the deep freeze Montrealers have lived in for the past several days is almost over.

The bad news: freezing rain is on the way.

In a special weather alert, Environment Canada said freezing rain is expected to arrive late Wednesday afternoon, dropping two to four millimetres of precipitation on Montreal, Laval Châteauguay and Longueuil.

"Snow swoops in early Wednesday morning. It will be with us for the morning commute and throughout the day," said CBC Montreal weather specialist Jeff Harrington.

"By evening, there's real risk of seeing an hour or two of freezing rain," he said. "The timing on that isn't the greatest. Right now it looks to be in the window of 5 p.m. to 8 p.m."

Icy roads warning

The freezing rain will then move east toward Quebec City, arriving in central Quebec by late in the evening.

"Surfaces such as highways, roads, walkways and parking lots may become icy and slippery," Environment Canada warns.

Regular rain will follow on Thursday, as the thermometer climbs to a high of 4 C.

More seasonal snow and cold will return on Friday.