HALIFAX -- A meteorologist with Environment Canada says the East Coast is in for back-to-back winter storms over the holidays.

Jean-Marc Couturier says vast swaths of Atlantic Canada are expected to see gusts and a wintry mix of precipitation as a low-pressure systems tracks across the region on Saturday night.

Couturier says Nova Scotians should expect heavy rainfall, while conditions in Newfoundland and New Brunswick look to be frostier with precipitation changing between ice pellets, freezing rain and snowfall.

He says Atlantic Canadians will see little reprieve before another storm hits on Christmas Day, bringing potentially significant amounts of snowfall, wind and several types of rain.

Couturier warns that travellers' holiday plans could be interrupted by cancelled flights and ferries, but says they may be able to make it to their destination on Christmas Eve or Boxing Day.

He says parts of the region may could see either a white or wet Christmas depending on conditions, but areas in New Brunswick may be getting more snow than they bargained for with between 15 and 20 centimetres projected to fall on Monday.