More than 41 centimetres (16 inches) of snow fell on Friday, Andre Cantin, a spokesperson for Canada's meteorological service, told AFP.

The storm will go down in history as one of the biggest snowfalls in a single day in Montreal in December, beating a record of 37.8 centimetresinches) on December 27, 1969.

Some 200 flights were cancelled at Trudeau International Airport, which remained closed despite improved weather late in the day, according to airport officials.

Clearing the streets and sidewalks of snow in the city was expected to take some 3,000 staff five days, according to the mayor of Montreal.

About 2.14 metres (seven feet) of snow usually falls on the city each winter.

All rights reserved. © 2005 Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.