Toronto's weather has been erratic over the last little while, breaking records for both cold and heat. The city was predicted to be an icy mess following the big melt last week, but the wild temperature swing has also delivered a welcome gift. 

There's now an amazing natural skating rink at the heart of Trinity Bellwoods Park, and people have been sure to take advantage of this serendipitous gift from Mother Nature.

A post shared by Asia Molly (@asiav) on Jan 14, 2018 at 12:31pm PST

The area affectionately known as the Dog Bowl has long been a site of local flooding thanks to the buried Garrison Creek, so conditions were perfect for the formation of the ice pad when rain and melting snow were followed by plummeting temperatures leading into the weekend.

A post shared by Toronto Free Walking Tours (@torontofreewalkingtours) on Jan 14, 2018 at 11:37am PST

It's actually remarkable how large the frozen surface is, and how good the ice quality can be at its centre. Someone would have to put a lot of hard work in to build a rink like this from scratch, but all this one needed was some wacky weather. 

A post shared by Alexander Thistlewood (@atinthe613) on Jan 14, 2018 at 6:15pm PST

The forecast for this week suggests that the rink will remain skateable for a few days yet. And, unlike the risky practice of skating on Toronto's harbour, even if the ice starts to thin out, there's no profound danger lurking underneath. 

A post shared by bob whalen (@bobwhalen) on Jan 15, 2018 at 11:40am PST

Well, that is if you don't count dog litter as a huge deterrent.