A severe bout of freezing rain descended upon Montreal on Monday, December 29, 2025, coating the city in a treacherous layer of ice and challenging the resilience of its residents. The storm transformed sidewalks, streets, and vehicles into slippery hazards, prompting a city-wide effort to navigate and clear the dangerous conditions.
Scenes from an Icy City
The visual evidence from across Montreal painted a stark picture of the storm's impact. On Cartier Street near Jean-Talon Boulevard, Amine Gamsi was photographed carrying his son, Yanis, likely to avoid the perilous ice-covered sidewalks. Meanwhile, a dedicated security guard at the Montreal General Hospital used his break time to chip ice off his car, a task mirrored by 76-year-old Marcel Levesque on Lanaudiere Street, demonstrating the widespread personal effort required to deal with the weather.
Despite the hazardous glaze, the allure of nature persisted. Brave Montrealers still visited Beaver Lake on Mount Royal, undeterred by the icy terrain surrounding the popular spot. The city's response machinery was also in action, with sidewalk plows and specialized de-icing equipment working to clear pedestrian walkways and even the Jean-Talon bike path.
Residents Adapt and Prepare
The freezing rain forced immediate and creative adaptations for daily life. Pedestrians were seen walking down the middle of St-Zotique Street, choosing the marginally safer plowed roadway over the impassable, glassy sidewalks. The same street became a slow-moving tableau of cautious coexistence as pedestrians, cyclists, and cars all negotiated the shared, slippery space.
Anticipating further ice or seeking to melt what had already fallen, residents flocked to stores for supplies. At the Walmart in the Dorval Gardens shopping centre, Joseph Perlini and Jacques Brisson were among those loading bags of salt into their car trunks, a common and necessary ritual for Canadian winters made urgent by the severe storm.
The Aftermath of a Winter Hazard
Freezing rain is one of winter's most disruptive phenomena, and the December 29 event showcased its capacity to bring a major city to a cautious crawl. The event highlighted the everyday challenges faced by citizens, from parents protecting their children to seniors maintaining their independence. It also underscored the continuous work of municipal crews tasked with making public infrastructure safe during extreme weather episodes.
While the photos capture a single day's struggle, they represent a recurring seasonal reality for cities like Montreal. The community's response—a mix of personal perseverance, mutual caution, and municipal effort—is a testament to adapting to the demands of the Canadian climate. The ice eventually melted, but the images from that Monday remain a frozen snapshot of a city weathering a storm together.
