Cars crashed, ice rained down and Santa stayed home. That was the kind of day the GTA had to endure Sunday as the weather took an apocalyptic turn overnight.

Environment Canada foresees flurries and the risk of freezing drizzle Sunday night — with easterly 30 km/h winds gusting to 50 km/h — as the mercury gets down to -3 C.

The flurries are expected to end late Monday morning, when the high will be around freezing. As of 3:25 p.m. a snowfall warning was in effect for Pickering, Oshawa and the southern Durham Region.

Toronto Mayor John Tory tweeted about the extreme winter weather conditions on Sunday pleading for everyone to “please drive with extra caution on our roads” and to “be sure to give yourself plenty of time to get to where you’re going and remember to drive safe and look out for pedestrians.”

Toronto Hydro tweeted Sunday night it was responding to a west-end power outage impacting approximately 6,000 people. People living near and surrounding Bloor Street, the Queensway, Kipling Avenue and Windermere Avenue may have been impacted.

Crews found that a tree branch on a wire had caused the outage, Toronto Hydro said in a tweet.

The Toronto District School Board also said it will be monitoring conditions and will update people on any cancellations in the morning.

Fears of slippery driving conditions were validated on Sunday morning by a 12-car pileup at Davenport Road and Avenue Road.

“We have to make adjustments this time this season,” said Toronto Police Const. David Hopkinson. “I want to illustrate to people that they should slow down and clean their windshields.”

Hopkins says treacherous, icy road conditions played a role in the collision, though no one was injured. The weather wreaked havoc on holiday festivities: Burlington and Mississauga’s Santa Claus Parades, scheduled for Sunday, were cancelled, with Burlington citing “unsafe weather conditions and the declaration of a significant weather event.” Mississauga had expected a crowd of up to 25,000.

Ontario Provincial Police said there were approximately 400 collisions in the GTA.

Outside of the city, provincial police say one person has died in a pileup involving dozens of vehicles in Kingston. Police say the crash happened on Highway 401 at about 2:30 p.m., and involved between 30 and 40 passenger vehicles and big-rig trucks.

Another crash killed a 24-year-old woman in the Niagara region when her Jeep collided with a truck on Sunday, Sgt. Kerry Schmidt said.

Torontonians had been warned of a blustery start to December and ice pellets did indeed descend on Sunday morning. Hopkinson said during the first few snowfalls of the season, accidents are more likely to occur since many road users haven’t adjusted to the change in weather. And as it becomes increasingly dark, reduced visibility also becomes a factor.

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After cancelling its annual Santa Claus Parade previously scheduled for today, the City of Burlington also announced on Twitter that the parade cannot be rescheduled due to the massive amount of scheduling and coordination required.

Looking ahead, Tuesday will see a mix of clouds and the first sign of sunshine with a 40 per cent chance of flurries, which will increase to 60 per cent on Wednesday.

On Thursday, the sun may peek again although with a 40 per cent chance of flurries, and finally a mix of sun and clouds on Friday.

Mark Mills, from the city’s road operations department, said everyone should practise “extreme caution and patience on roadways,” defer travel where possible and try to use public transit.

Despite the weather, driving conditions should be better come Monday’s commute as road operations has deployed “snow fighters” to salt roadways, expressways and local roads.

According to Pearson International Airport’s website, many flights were delayed and even cancelled as of Sunday afternoon.

With files from The Canadian Press

Osobe Waberi is a breaking news reporter, working out of the Star's radio room in Toronto. Follow her on Twitter: @OsobeWaberi

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