Canadians are still waiting for winter as the country experiences its warmest January in more than a century.

Environment Canada meteorologist David Phillips says Canada's enjoying a balmy winter.

"All Canadians, if you're not big fans of winter, then you are absolutely enjoying and rejoicing in this kind of almost spring-like weather," he told CTV.

Even Winnipeg, better known at this time of year as "Winterpeg," is basking in a flow of warm Pacific air instead of shivering under a frigid blast from the Arctic.

The average daytime high temperature in Winnipeg this January was -3.4 C when the average high should be -12.7 C.

"This is amazing. We aren't wearing jackets. It's awesome," said one young woman out skating.

Some golfers teed off in Edmonton as temperatures hit 12 degrees C earlier this week.

For further examples of how unusual this January has been, here's how some Canadian cities have warmed up when compared to their typical temperature this month:

• 3.5 degrees C warmer in Vancouver
• 7 degrees C warmer in Calgary
• 10 degrees C warmer in Regina

Ontario also experienced record-breaking temperatures this month. Iqaluit was the only exception as it was only half a degree warmer than average this month.

The downside

However, not everyone is happy about the warm winter.

"It's been a battle. This has been the worst week so far," said Kevin MacInnis, a ski club manager in Halifax. The hills there are essentially brown and devoid of snow.

The temperature in the Northwest Territories even reached a high of -3 degrees C this week. The resulting effect on the ice covering the Yellowknife River has unnerved truckers, who earn a living from transporting goods on northern ice roads.

"We've seen a delay in opening our ice roads from two to three weeks," said Daniel Auger, of the NWT's Dept. of Transportation.

A lack of winter roads is also making it impossible to transport essential supplies in northern Manitoba.

The lack of snow cover is not good for southern farmers who need more snow to ensure good soil moisture this spring planting season.

Global warming?

While most Canadians are enjoying the warm weather, the question arises of whether Canada is experiencing global warming.

Environment Canada said January has been so warm because the Arctic air mass that usually sits over northern Canada during the winter has tilted northeast. The air mass is instead hanging over Greenland this year.

This tilt has resulted in a cold winter in Europe with temperatures falling to -40 C in Russia. Dozens of Russians died from an extreme cold spell this month.

European countries including Austria and Germany have also had colder than normal weather. Germany closed the Rhine-Main-Danube canal to shipping for the first time in five years after it iced over, while Vienna's subway tracks cracked from the cold weather this past week.

Heavy snow in Poland on Saturday led to a roof collapse in Katowice, about 320 kilometres south of Warsaw. At least 20 people have died in that accident. Heavy snow also brought northern Italy to a standstill on Saturday.

Experts said, however, this month's weather was an anomaly, not a trend.

"I think the safest prediction of all would be that January 2007 will be colder than January 2006," said Phillips.

Similar weather is being predicted for February and March -- but then again, December had been predicted to be colder than normal for southern Canada, and it wasn't.

With reports from CTV's Jill Macyshon and Joe Olafson