A commuter on a bicycle makes his/her way through the Beaches during Toronto's first blast of winter. Steve Russell/ Toronto Star

Mother Nature is playing along with today’s theme of bad luck: she’s already started to dump slushy snow on the city.

All eastbound lanes of Hwy.

401 are closed after a collision at Hwy.

2 after a collision this morning.

Minor injuries have been reported in that incident.

Const.

Julia McCuaig with OPP’s highway safety division warned that roads, especially on and off ramps, will be icy this morning.

Sgt.

Dave Woodford said at one point this morning they were averaging a collision every minute.

They’ve had well over 30 collisions on the 401 in the GTA this morning already.

“We’ve seen it all the way through from Niagara Falls to St.

Catharines through Kitchener right through to Oshawa,” he said.

“When you exit the highway you apply your breaks to slow down, and when it’s icy you start to lose control,” Woodford explained of the special dangers on the ramps.

“And same as accelerating on the on ramps, if it’s icy and you pick up speed you can start to fishtail.

And you can end up in the ditch.

”

He said drivers just aren’t prepared for the flash freeze and the black ice.

“People are not drtiving to the conditions,” he said, noting that the usual tips are especially important in these conditions.

He warns that in a “fishtail” position, people start to panic – and then it can quickly become a domino effect.

��As soon as a lot of people lose control they apply the breaks, but you have to ease off.

Ease off the accelerator and keep two hands on the steering wheel and look to where you want to go.

”

“Take it easy, slow down and stay focused.”

The day will start off at about -3 C with a wind chill of -11 C.

Between one and two centimeters of snow will dust the city over the course of the morning, accompanied by gusting winds.

“It’ll be a typical blustery winter day,” said Rob Kuhn, a severe weather meteorologist with Environment Canada.

It’s a slap in the face after the spring-like conditions Toronto’s gotten used to so far this season.

Kuhn said drivers in the city, too, should be aware of ponded water from yesterday’s rain on their morning commutes and drive accordingly.

“It’s going to be seasonably cold this weekend,” he added, with a high of -10 C on Saturday and a low of -14 C on Sunday morning.