With turkey on the table and frost on the ground, it seems more like Christmas than Thanksgiving in B.C.'s central and southern Interior.

The region is in the midst of a record-breaking cold snap, with temperatures reaching as low as minus 19 degrees in some regions.

Greg Pearce of Environment Canada blames the chilly days on an arctic pressure system that moved in from the Northwest Territories Thursday.

"We usually don't get these situations until November," he said.

"On Friday and over the weekend this high pressure system's been the dominant weather factor here for the entire province and so everybody's had these cold temperatures."

But it's not here to say. A low pressure system developing off the west coast of B.C. is expected to start pumping milder, moist air across the province beginning Tuesday.

"The precipitation and the warmer air will gradually infiltrate," Pearce said.

Snow is expected to hit higher elevations in the Interior as the warm air starts to override the cold front, Pearce predicts.

The southern Interior is expected to warm up on Wednesday. By the end of the week it may see temperatures higher than average.

"So a real big warm up is on the way and this cold snap will be over."

British Columbia's Interior isn't the only place affected by the recent cold. Environment Canada posted a temperature of 0.4 degrees for an overnight low in Vancouver - breaking the record for Thanksgiving Monday.