Thousands left without power in London after windy afternoon rain storm

CBC News

· Posted: Apr 29, 2025 7:41 PM EDT | Last Updated: 20 minutes ago

Thousands of Londoners were without powerfulness Tuesday afternoon, after a little but destructive thunderstorm rolled through, bringing with it torrential rainfall, lightning and dense winds.

Environment Canada issued a terrible thunderstorm informing earlier this afternoon, which was expected to bring winds up to 110 km/h and the anticipation of a tornado. Once the thunderstorm passed, the informing ended, and successful its wake a peculiar upwind connection warned of strong southwest winds with predominant gusts up to 80 kilometres per hour. 

"We've been having windy days successful the bulk of the southwest [region] already 50 gusting 70, those winds are expecting to increase. [Wind] will beryllium the main menace for today," said Baraba Lapido, an Environment Canada meteorologist. 

The thunderstorm formed connected apical of Lake Huron and Georgian Bay and archetypal impacts were seen person to the lake, in Sarnia, Goderich and the Bruce Peninsula earlier the tempest moved south, said Lapido. 

When it reached London, the almighty winds caused histrion harm successful parts of the city, including by Carfrae Crescent successful Old South and metropolis crews were seen cleaning up the trees from roads. 

That wind, paired with an unlucky lightning strike, managed to destruct Londoner Linda Bristow's 50-year-old maple tree, tearing it isolated and causing portion of it to topple successful her eastbound London backyard, narrowly missing her location and its roof. 

"It was this chaotic windy rainfall and past I heard this large bang and I thought 1 of my bluish bins blew over, until I walked retired the house, and I couldn't spot due to the fact that my daughter's chamber model was wholly covered with follage," Bristow told CBC News.

"I peaked retired the backmost doorway ... I person a immense maple tree, it was deed by lightning and a immense conception of the histrion came close down. Nobody hurt, but it was surely a messiness retired there."

As of 7:30 p.m. London Hydro was reporting respective outages successful areas including: Lambeth, Byron, Longwoods, West London, Oakridge, Brockley, Argyle, Hamilton Road, Glanworth, River Bend, Westmount, Westminster, South London and Southcrest.

The southwest winds were expected to displacement northwest and diminish aboriginal successful the evening arsenic a acold beforehand moves through, Environment Canada said.