Thousands left without power in London after windy afternoon rain storm

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

Environment Canada issued a severe thunderstorm warning earlier this afternoon, which was expected to bring winds up to 110 km/h and the possibility of a tornado. Once the thunderstorm passed, the warning ended, and in its wake a special weather statement warned of strong southwest winds with frequent gusts up to 80 kilometres per hour.

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

The thunderstorm formed on top of Lake Huron and Georgian Bay and initial impacts were seen closer to the lake, in Sarnia, Goderich and the Bruce Peninsula before the storm moved south, said Lapido.

When it reached London, the powerful winds caused tree damage in parts of the city, including by Carfrae Crescent in Old South and city crews were seen cleaning up the trees from roads.

That wind, paired with an unlucky lightning strike, managed to destroy Londoner Linda Bristow's 50-year-old maple tree, tearing it apart and causing part of it to topple in her east London backyard, narrowly missing her house and its roof.

"It was this wild windy rain and then I heard this big bang and I thought one of my blue bins blew over, until I walked out the house, and I couldn't see because my daughter's bedroom window was completely covered with follage," Bristow told CBC News.

"I peaked out the back door ... I have a huge maple tree, it was hit by lightning and a huge section of the tree came right down. Nobody hurt, but it was certainly a mess out there."

As of 7:30 p.m. London Hydro was reporting several outages in 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 shift northwest and diminish later in the evening as a cold front moves through, Environment Canada said.