A freezing rain warning remained in effect Wednesday afternoon for Ottawa and surrounding areas, according to Environment Canada, combining wet weather with light snow across eastern Ontario.

Areas under the warning include: Belleville, Quinte, Northumberland, Kingston, Prince Edward County, Stirling, Tweed, South Frontenac, Bancroft, Bon Echo Park, Brockville, Leeds and Grenville, Ottawa, Gatineau, Prescott and Russell, Cornwall, Morrisburg, Smiths Falls, Lanark, Sharbot Lake, Haliburton, Renfrew, Pembroke, Barry's Bay and Algonquin.

Dozens of flights were delayed at the Ottawa International Airport on Wednesday as travellers sought to make Christmas Eve connections. However, there were fewer cancellations than in recent days.

The Ottawa Bus Central Station doubled service to Montreal and Sudbury to meet demand. And the train was also a popular choice, if numbers mean anything. VIA Rail trains sold out in the four days leading up to Christmas.

Coast-to-coast snow

The warning comes as a winter storm from Colorado moves its way into Ontario.

While many Canadians are cheering the blanket of fresh snow that may give the nation its first white Christmas in 40 years, the festive weather is also causing havoc at travel hubs from east to west.

In Toronto, several days of falling snow have the city's road maintenance teams playing catch-up, and more is expected Wednesday morning before rising temperatures turn the precipitation to rain.

The main travel concerns on Christmas Eve were in the West, as Air Canada issued an advisory saying snowfall in Vancouver has forced the airline to cancel "short- and medium-haul flights to and from Vancouver."

That means flights between Alberta and Vancouver (in both directions) have been cancelled.

"Air Canada will endeavour to maintain its scheduled transcontinental and international long-haul flights to and from the following destinations for the remainder of today: Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa ... (But) the flight schedule to and from Vancouver for Thursday December 25th is expected to remain reduced," said an advisory posted on the airline's website.

The heavy snow has caused numerous delays at Pearson International Airport, with frustrated passengers trying to find alternate ways to make it home for Christmas.

The Air Canada advisory won't come as good news for some passengers after days of cancellations and delays, and the Vancouver region's weather appears to be only getting worse.

"Total snowfall amounts of 15 to 25 centimeters are forecast before the snow tapers to a few flurries Thursday morning. Strong winds will also develop as the system approaches and visibility will be locally reduced in blowing snow," said a "Snowfall warning" on Environment Canada's website.

Thirty centimetres fell in the greater Vancouver region on Sunday.

More cancellations expected

CTV British Columbia's Rena Heer said the snow would likely lead to more cancellations. "Things come to a little bit of a grinding halt," Heer told CTV's Canada AM.

"Schools close, ferries stop working, especially local transit ferries haven't been working all that well, so it's been typical reaction as far as we're concerned."

One flight passenger told Canada AM he and his daughter spent hours on the tarmac in Vancouver, waiting for their flight to depart for Toronto amid weather and volume-related delays.

"They put us on a plane and left us there for 11 hours without moving, and with the threat we would lose our flight if we got off the plane. And technically they said you can't get off the plane if you have bags," said Larry Mickolwin from Etobicoke, Ont.

"And then they left us sitting in the dark saying it would be more comfortable sitting there than in the lobby, and they just didn't have their act together, so they left us there for 11 hours, and then our flight, so we were there for 16 hours."

Greater Toronto Airports Authority spokesperson Scott Armstrong told CTV.ca that conditions at Pearson International airport have improved significantly.

"Things are going well today," he said.

"We're looking at about 50 cancellations today. There were some delays this morning but they've cleared up. (But) you need to consider the airports at both ends of the flight."

In Halifax -- the Canadian city most likely to have a green Christmas due to rising temperatures Wednesday -- airport officials were working to sift through a backlog of delayed and cancelled flights following several days of snowy weather in Atlantic Canada.

Peter Spurway, of the Halifax International Airport Authority, said conditions there were in "pretty good shape" Wednesday morning, but many travellers have been holed up in the airport for the last few days waiting for flights out.

He said delays in other parts of the country have had a ripple effect on the Halifax flight schedule.

"There is still a backlog," Spurway told Canada AM. "We are in day six of this cycle and it is the classic combination of poor weather, not only in one area of the country but in many areas of the country... unprecedented weather there, plus the fact it is the busiest, most concentrated travel period of the year."

Halifax had about 10 centimetres of snow as of Tuesday, but much of that accumulation was expected to melt later Wednesday as temperatures were predicted to rise.

With a report from CTV Ottawa's Maggie Padlewska