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Boxing Day shopping in southwestern Ontario will have to wait as freezing rain leads to numerous power outages and crashes on area roadways.
Environment Canada has issued freezing rain warnings for London and Windsor. Up to 10 millimetres of freezing rain could fall into the afternoon, said meteorologist Lucas Alexopoulos. Some areas may also see ice pellets that will make surfaces even more slippery.
“With this kind of weather, you should always be careful when you’re driving,” said Alexopoulos. “Sometimes you can’t see ice, it’s difficult to detect. That’s in terms of walking as well. Walkways and roadways will become icy.”
There’s also a risk of utility outages as the ice builds up on wires and poles, he said. By mid-afternoon, London Hydro’s outage map showed a number of outages in the city’s south end, affecting more than 500 customers.
London Hydro crews working on an electrical box at the corner of Glengyle Crescent and Glenora Drive Friday morning. (Andrew Lupton/CBC )’You’re not going to be able to stop on a dime’
Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) have been assisting with numerous crashes, said Sgt. Ed Sanchuk.
“Please realize that the roads are snow and ice covered, the roadways are slick, slippery, and you’re not going to be able to stop on a dime,” he said. “Yet we have individuals that are still driving like it’s 90 degrees outside and failing to move over [for emergency vehicles].”
Motorists who do not need to travel are urged to stay home, he said. Those that do go out should remember to slow down for tow truck operators removing vehicles from a ditch.
Numerous crashes being reported throughout West Region. #OPP urging drivers to stay off the roads until weather system passes. If YOU need to travel, SLOW DOWN, and when you see emergency vehicles MOVE OVER! #WROPP ^es pic.twitter.com/GnTeZNMWgT
—OPP_WR
On Dec. 3, a tow-truck operator was killed while out on the job in the westbound lanes of Highway 401, near Oxford Road 3, in the Township of Blandford-Blenheim. The 42-year-old man was hit by a blue commercial tractor trailer while helping a stranded motorist, and was pronounced dead at the scene.
Police later charged a truck driver from the Hamilton area with dangerous operation causing death, and failure to stop after an accident causing death.
The slick conditions are expected to continue into Saturday for the London area, said Alexopoulos, as temperatures remain steady at –2 C. Things will thaw with Sunday’s high of plus 4 C, or 6 C in Windsor. Some snow is forecast in the final week of December, starting with a 60 per cent chance of flurries and high of –1 C on Monday throughout the region.