Thousands without power as Ontario hit with thunderstorms, heavy rains and snow

Thousands of people in Ontario are without power after a messy mix of freezing rain and thunderstorms pummeled parts of the province, with downpours and possible ice storms still in the forecast.

Hydro One says crews are responding as an outage map shows thousands of customers without power this morning.

The reported outages are concentrated in central Ontario, where Environment Canada has issued weather warnings and forecasts of multiple thunderstorms and around 50 millimetres of rainfall through tonight.

In eastern Ontario, the agency was calling for prolonged periods of freezing rain with potential ice storm conditions, prompting school bus cancellations in Ottawa.

Some GO trains have been delayed and river flood warnings are in place for a number of regions along Lake Erie after thunderstorms rolled through southwestern Ontario this morning.

Meanwhile, northern Ontario is under winter storm warnings with the forecast calling for between 15 and 25 centimetres of snow and ice accumulation by early Thursday morning.

Feature image by iStock.com/Willowpix