KITCHENER -- A freezing rain warning has been lifted for Waterloo Region and Wellington County.

Environment Canada placed the warning in effect Sunday morning with freezing rain expected to turn into drizzles and flurries by the afternoon.

Some areas were expected to receive several millimeters of ice accretion, while others could get a few centimetres of ice pellets mixed with the snow and freezing rain.

“I knew it was coming but I didn’t think it would be this bad,” said Waterloo resident Dale Linseman. “Welcome to Canada.”

University of Waterloo Weather Station Coordinator Frank Seglenieks explains a number of factors were at play to lead to the Environment Canada warning.

“We were right in the middle of the warm air in the south and the cold air in the north,” he said. “That zero degree line separates the two and it came right over Southern Ontario.”

Seglenieks adds that the various wintry conditions might be over for now, but the temperatures are here to stay.

“It doesn’t look like a lot of opportunity for this stuff to melt out,” he said. “It’s probably going to be white for the next few days into the next weekend.”

Torsten Huhse is one Waterloo resident who will be dealing with the aftermath of the weather event.

He heard a tree fall onto the John Street East train tracks around 8:30 a.m and decided to break out the chainsaw to clear it out.

“I said to the boss that roads are pretty bad today so I think I’ll stay home,” said Huhse. “There there was a thud. It looks like I’ll be playing lumberjack today instead.

“I don’t mind. I like the winter.”

A home surveillance camera caught another tree falling and landing on a car in Preston on Sunday morning.

The vehicle’s owner says the damage will cost him about $3,000.

Downed trees and branches also caused four major power outages across the area.

“There was probably 7,400 customers that were affected from different points in the morning,” said Kitchener-Wilmot Hydro VP of Operations Wilf Meston.

He adds that power was restored just after noon.