Winter storm cancels flights, closes schools in Canada

TORONTO (AP) — A major winter storm hitting Ontario and Quebec has caused widespread flight cancellations and school closures, and has knocked out power to hundreds of thousands of customers. Environment Canada predicted strong winds, heavy snowfall and possible flash freezing, issuing winter storm warnings Friday for the vast majority of Ontario and Quebec. Ontario Provincial Police shut down Highway 401 west of London on Friday morning after reporting multiple collisions. Meanwhile, strong winds began to wreak havoc on provincial utilities. Hydro Quebec said outages were affecting more than 225,000 customers. Canada’s second largest airline announced it was canceling flights at airports in Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia.