Winds that gusted close to 120 kilometres per hour caused stoplights to spin and furniture to fly off high-rise balconies during a freak storm that hit parts of Ontario and Quebec on Friday.

Dramatic photos and video captured by social media users show scenes of the damage caused by the storm that quickly moved across central Canada. Hundreds of thousands were left without power and at least three people died.

Twitter users from Kitchener, Ont., to Montreal shared images of trees uprooted, including some that had smashed parked cars and damaged homes. One tree narrowly missed a school bus carrying 72 children in Mississauga, Ont.

A Twitter user in Waterloo filmed a dangling stoplight spinning above traffic.

In Toronto, patio furniture was seen flying through the air near Toronto’s Yonge and Bloor intersection and off an eleventh floor balcony.

In a video shot from inside a Pearson International Airport terminal in Toronto, the wind can be seen tossing large metal containers across a tarmac, narrowly missing a worker.

Extended: Strong winds send luggage flying

Others shared images of backyard damage, including an overturned trampoline.

Hydro poles threatened to fall over in some areas, and some snapped in two.