One person died on Highway 401 near Cambridge on Christmas Eve, the most serious accident on a day of wet, sloppy driving conditions in southern Ontario.

The accident occurred at 9:50 a.m. on Wednesday. A Pontiac Montana went out of control and struck the guardrail. It bounced off the rail and then struck a tractor-trailer before going across the highway to roll onto its roof, the OPP said in a news release.

"The 25-year-old driver of the van from British Columbia was pronounced dead at the scene by the coroner. The female passenger was transported to Cambridge Hospital with serious but not life threatening injuries. The driver of the tractor-trailer sustained no injuries in the collision," it said.

The highway reopened about 2 p.m.

OPP Sgt. Dave Woodford told ctvtoronto.ca that as of mid-afternoon, conditions were rainy and foggy in his area, but traffic was light.

In Toronto, slush "ponds" have formed at downtown intersections Wednesday, after rain soaked the overnight snowfall of 13 centimetres. In the early hours, vehicles had trouble negotiating some hills.

The city asked for the public's help by clearing catch basins on their streets and not shovelling snow onto city streets.

City crews are planning on working to about midnight to get the roads as cleared as possible. However, temperatures are expected to drop this evening, leaving road conditions icy.

Const. Mig Roberts of Toronto Police Service's traffic division told ctvtoronto.ca that motorists just needed to exercise caution in these conditions.

"It is slippery, but we just want people to stay patient," he said. A lack of patience leads to problems such as minor fender-benders in mall parking lots., he added.

The conditions are affecting rail, bus and air travel.

Travellers should check for delays. Some of the problem points today:

  • The Scarborough Rapid Transit line is back up after being out of commission for much of the morning, but it is being assisted by shuttle buses between Kennedy subway station and the Scarborough town centre
  • Go Transit has added some early rush-hour service
  • The website for the agency which manages Pearson Airport showed almost 80 delays in flight arrivals and almost as many departure delays. Another 60 flights have been cancelled (check your flight status at right)
  • Via Rail is asking people to show up at least an hour before their train is scheduled to depart

Across the province:

  • Heavy snowfall warnings are in effect for much of central Ontario, from Parry Sound and Burk's Falls eastward across the Algonquin and Haliburton highlands to Renfrew and Pembroke
  • Heavy snow is possible in the near-north areas of Sault Ste. Marie, Sudbury and North bay
  • Ottawa is to expect freezing rain Wednesday afternoon and early in the evening. The warning extends to Prescott and Russell
  • Along the shore of James Bay, the windchill will make it feel like -45C
  • Gusting winds of up to 90 kilometres per hour are predicted Wednesday evening for the Kingston-Prince Edward Island region
  • Wind warnings are also in effect for the northeast shore of Lake Erie, from Simcoe and Delhi up to Niagara
  • Anyone heading out onto the roads across Ontario to start their holidays will have to take special care.

Holidaying in the airport

It's bad enough to face weather-related delays for a few hours or more, but one group hoping to go to Jamaica had been stuck at Pearson since Monday.

"I'm tired and I'm stressed out!" one person declared.

They were stuck wearing the clothes they had on Monday because their bags had been checked. No one seemed to have answers for them.

Air Jamaica cancelled the flight on Monday because of mechanical problems. Tuesday, it was weather. On Wednesday, no flight crew.

However, their travel nightmare are over. A new aircraft departed Pearson at 1:30 p.m., and with luck, they should be home in Kingston for Christmas.

With reports from CTV Toronto's Zuraidah Alman and Ken Regular