Freezing rain coats P.E.I. roads, delays arrival of some Canada Games athletes

Roads, sidewalks and parking lots in parts of P.E.I. became dangerously slippery Friday as a forecast bout of freezing rain turned into reality.

A light freezing rain was first reported at the Charlottetown Airport at around 1 p.m. AT, and Air Canada's 5:09 p.m. AT arrival from Toronto was cancelled.

Late in the day, Canada Games officials confirmed that three flights carrying athletes and coachesfrom the Prairie provinceshad to bediverted to other airports, but severalothers were able to land as planned.

"We are getting a lot of reports of motor vehicle accidents from the icy conditions." Charlottetown Police said in a midafternoon tweet. "Please take extra caution if you're driving and do not go out on the roads unless you absolutely have to."

The RCMPalso tweeted that road conditions were deteriorating, saying: "RCMP reminds motorists to slow down, ensure you have plenty of stopping distance and drive according to conditions."

Public school classes on P.E.I. were cancelledearly Fridayin light ofthe impending winter storm, falling on the last day of school before a two-week break coinciding with the Canada Games.

Environment Canada initially issued snowfall warnings for all three counties, but changed that at 1 p.m. AT to freezing rain warnings for Kings and Queens counties, leaving the heavy snowfall warning in place for Prince County.

The snow moved in from the west starting in Prince County. In some parts of the province,there wasa transition to ice pellets during the afternoon, with more of that in central and eastern parts.

The forecast was calling for five to 10 centimetres in Charlottetown and 10 to 15 centimetres in Summerside before the snow stops falling Saturday morning.

Skies will clear Saturday afternoon, with a high of -7 C. It will be sunny Sunday with a high of 0 C as competition begins at the 2023 Canada Winter Games being held in the province.