Rideau Canal Skateway closes after third-shortest season ever

As springlike weather melts ice across Ontario, Ottawa's Rideau Canal has closed after the third shortest season since the skateway opened in 1970.

The Rideau Canal was open for skating for just 25 days this season, National Capital Commission (NCC) spokesperson Cédric Pelletier said. That's seven more skating days than last season, which had the fewest of any season since the commission began keeping records of skating days in 1995-1996.

Warm daytime weather this week melted much of the canal's skating surface and made it impossible to maintain, according to the NCC.

The temperature in Ottawa is expected to reach 14 C on Saturday.

Decades-old temperature records were broken in at least 10 regions of Ontario on Wednesday, according to Environment Canada. It was 18.5 C in Sarnia, the city's warmest Feb. 22 ever, breaking the previous record set in 1984 by more than seven degrees. London had its warmest Feb. 22 ever too, almost seven degrees higher than the previous record in 1930.

Globally, 2016 was the warmest year since modern records began in 1880, according to NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. It was the third record-breaking year in a row. Increasing global temperatures are evidence of human-caused climate change, almost all climate scientists agree.