The heart of winter can be an interesting time to visit Montreal just to see how a big city copes with piles of snow, ice and severe cold.

In general temperatures are not so low: though -10ºC in the daytime is relatively common. But northerly weather patterns can bring spells of around -20º for several days at a time. Then you'll notice your eyelashes freeze on your walk to the metro.

These frigid spells tend to pass fairly quickly though, leaving Montreal with two other major headaches - what to do with all the snow on the city streets and how to cope when temperatures hover around 0º – melting and refreezing snow as dangerous ice.

One answer is lies in The Underground City which makes the weather irrelevant, the other is donning warm, good quality outdoor clothing such as coats made by Kanuk and thick lined snow boots. But you'll quickly find you can overdo it - leaving you with lots of excess clothing to deal with once you're inside.

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