More than 85 per cent of Canadians can expect a “green” Christmas this year, as many cities from coast-to-coast experience unseasonably mild yuletide temperatures.

Temperatures a few degrees above zero are expected on Thursday – Christmas Day – in urban centres such as Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal and Vancouver. In Halifax and Fredericton, temperatures could reach double-digits.

David Phillips, senior climatologist for Environment Canada, calls the nearly balmy weather in some parts “very unusual.”

“I think this is the greenest Christmas we’ve seen,” Phillips told CTV’s News Channel on Wednesday.

Phillips says a weather system moving into eastern Canada from the U.S., is bringing tropical rains, warm temperatures and strong winds on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

It’s a big change from a year ago, when tens of thousands of Canadians were shivering in the dark, after an ice storm knocked out power in parts of Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick days before Christmas.

But it’s not all good weather news in Toronto this year.

On Wednesday, Environment Canada issued a special weather statement warning of high winds in Toronto, which could gust up to 90 km/h after midnight.

“Be on the lookout for adverse weather conditions and take necessary safety precautions,” the agency said.

As for Atlantic Canada, any snow on the ground is expected to melt away.

Parts of the Prairies will have snow on the ground Christmas morning, “but [in Winnipeg] it’s barely hanging on,” Phillips said.

Barrie, Ont., which typically gets a white Christmas, was a mess of slush and puddles on Christmas Eve, thanks to the high temperatures and rain.

One man who had returned to Barrie from rainy Vancouver said he was “disappointed” to find no snow on the ground.

There is, however, a chance of snow flurries for Barrie on Christmas Day.

In Vancouver, where it was sunny 7 C on Wednesday afternoon, some golf courses were busy. They are expected to open free of charge on Christmas Day.

In New Brunswick, the Poley Mountain ski resort had snow on the trails earlier this week, but rain and high temperatures were threatening plans to open for the season on Boxing Day.

Phillips says that warming global temperatures may be to blame for the balmy Christmas.

“In places where there used to be an 80 per cent chance of a white Christmas, it’s a 60 per cent chance now,” he said.

“Winter is just not what it used to be.”

Although a “white Christmas” is unlikely for most Canadians, there could be snow on the ground on New Year’s Day. Temperatures are expected to fall well below zero on Monday in Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal and Halifax, Environment Canada says.

With files from CTV Vancouver, CTV Barrie and CTV Atlantic