White or green Christmas? Weather shapes up for yuletide holiday

A green Christmas waspredicted for Victoria and Vancouver, but much of British Columbiais alreadyseeing snow for the holidays and today Environment Canada reporteda forecast shift that may cover Metro Vancouver in white.

Higher elevations onVancouver Island and even parts of Victoriaare already seeing light flurries.

As temperatures drop over the next week, spots that get a dump snow will probably see it stick around until Dec. 25.

Much of the B.C. Interior is expecting heavy snow over the next few days as the weather turns more wintry province-wide. And now Metro Vancouver residents can expect 10 to 15 centimetres of the festive white stuff.

• Brace for it: Snow set to hit B.C. Interior hard Monday and Tuesday

Rain is turning to snow in higher elevations in the Lower Mainland and theFraser Valley,and is expected to transform into snow over many parts of the mainland and South Coast, according to Environment Canada.

While rain is predicted at sea level in some coastal spotsthere will be 10 to 15 centimetres of snowfall at higher spots on Vancouver Island on the Malahat, in parts of Duncan, Nanaimo, Nanoose and Fanny Bay and near Lake Cowichan.

• Snow complicates morning commute on south Vancouver Island

At higher elevations there could be as much as 15 centimetres of snow in these areas.

White Rock, South East Surrey and Langley may get up to 10 centimetres by this evening, with higher elevations of Metro Vancouver seeing up to 4 centimetres.

An Arctic Front is forecast for the remainder of the week bringing temperaturesas low as3 C to10C overnight.

More snow for B.C. Interior

In theinterior of the province, especially around Boundary, West Kootenay and Elk Valley, snow is expected to be heavy by late morning today, tapering off over Wednesday.

Up to 25 centimetres ofsnow isexpected from Highway 3 to Grand Forks.

Even greater accumulations, from 20 to 45 centimetres are expected in Trail, Castlegar, the KootenayPass, Elk Valley, Fernie, Elko,Sparwoodand Nicola and the Central Okanaganand Kelowna.

Environment Canada urges people to avoid travel until conditionsimprove and watch for road closures.

There's a special storm warning for drivers on the Coquihalla Highway from Hope to Merritt and Highway 3 from Hope to Princeton via Allison Pass, where up to 40 centimetres of snow is expected.

At the peak of this storm up tofive centimetres of snowfall per hour is possible, according to Environment Canada.