World’s largest skating rink on thin ice as Canada’s warm winter prevents opening

Mild temperatures in Ottawa make it too dangerous to open Rideau Canal Skateway, the capital’s 7.8km long ‘blockbuster’ attraction

Canada’s Rideau Canal Skateway – the largest outdoor rink in the world and a Unesco heritage site – may not open this winter for the first time in five decades, due to a lack of ice.

Ottawa is in the grips of its third-warmest winter ever recorded, according to Environment Canada, with temperatures hovering just below freezing through most of December and January.