Airport delays and road accidents pile up as severe winter weather grips much of Canada

Seemingly never-ending snow, extreme cold, and a mix of ice pellets and freezing rain. Across much of Canada, it's been a nasty holiday weekend for weather.

Environment Canada issued winter storm warnings for much of eastern Ontario and western Quebec. The agency said southern Ontario could expect 15 to 25 centimetres of additional snow. For much of eastern Ontario and western Quebec, the weather service predicted another 25 to 40 centimetres of snowfall.

Meanwhile, people in parts of Western Canada experienced extreme cold for a third day. And another storm rolled into the Maritimes, bringing heavy snow and icy conditions that were expected to last into Monday.

The Eastern Region Ontario Provincial Police were asking people to avoid travel as visibility worsened. Officers were sent to a single-vehicle rollover on Highway 401 east of Kingston, Ont., on Sunday morning, police said on X, adding there were no injuries.

In Clarington, Ont., police were called to the scene of a jack-knifed tractor trailer on Highway 401 overnight. Police said the driver lost control and the truck went over the median in blowing snow.

Meanwhile, OPP Central Region asked people to take emergency detour routes in Northumberland County, east of Oshawa, Ont., as the conditions worsened for highway drivers.

In Toronto, Environment Canada on Sunday warned that travel conditions could "rapidly deteriorate" starting Sunday morning, with driving and walking getting more difficult and even dangerous in some areas.

Several dozen flights were cancelled or delayed Sunday morning at Toronto Pearson International Airport amid heavy snowfall.

Toronto Pearson posted on X that the airport had accumulated over 12 centimetres of snow as of 8 a.m. ET on Sunday and was expecting another 15 centimetres by the end of the day.

In Ottawa, emergency preparedness experts were urging people to stay home if possible in the Canadian capital as the city faced its second heavy dump of snow in recent days.

In Quebec, snow began falling Saturday evening and began to intensify early Sunday. Montreal and Quebec City were expected to receive 25 to 40 cm of snow on Sunday while areas east of those cities were looking at 30 to 50 cm of snow.

Environment Canada said conditions are expected to rapidly deteriorate, adding that accumulating snow and blowing snow could make travel in some areas hazardous.

Transport Quebec urged caution on the roads and to avoid non-essential travel and said the weather was likely to disrupt traffic conditions into Monday.

About 150 flights were cancelled in Montreal and Quebec City, according to airport officials. The vast majority of the cancellations were at Montreal's Trudeau international airport, affecting mainly domestic flights.