A one-two punch of wintery weather to start the week in the London, Ont. region

Many across southwestern Ontario were hit hard by snowsqualls. CTV London’s Gerry Dewan with more on how residents are coping.

While Monday’s snowfall may have been the appetizer for London’s road maintenance crews, Tuesday was a full meal.

“I know this is not ideal for anyone, but it is actually good for our team,” said Joel Gillard, division manager for Road Operations for the city.

Gillard said every year brings new staff, new contractors, and new routes for snow clearing, “This isn’t the official winter season, you could call it. So, it allows us to get some training done and get people adjusted to their new beats.”

One priority for crews was ensuring safe access to the cenotaph for Remembrance Day observances.

The early snowfall allowed Brendon Pilgrim to give his snow blower an unexpected test run, “Obviously, it’s very early for us. Now, I’m not used to getting the snowblower going, and I had to get that out this morning. It’s heavy, wet snow. Not really a lot of fun, is it?”

Pilgrim and his wife both had appointments Tuesday morning, and ignoring the snow wasn’t an option, “Trying to get the cars cleaned off, get the driveway cleared out so everybody can get out and do their business today.”

Schools in Elgin and Middlesex counties were closed but buses were running in London, but not without issues.

A group of St. Jude Catholic Elementary students and parents were waiting for over half-an-hour for the bus at their stop in south London.

The delay had Grade 3 student Mieye Johnny thinking about what he could do with a day off, “Either play Roblox, or just go outside and build a snow fort, or I’d do snow fights.”

Five-year-old Ethan Yang was out helping mom clear the driveway so that he could get to his Junior Kindergarten class. His mother Savana Ye proudly proclaiming, “Yeah, he’s a big boy.”

Ye didn’t expect the big pile of white stuff in her driveway when she came out in the morning, “I think I’ve cleaned the snow for, like, 20 minutes.”

Constable Jeff Hare said the OPP had to deal with a number of collisions on the 400 series highways, responding to about 40 crashes in the Middlesex County area overnight. Fortunately, there were no serious injuries reported.

A jackknifed tractor-trailer resulted in a shutdown of the 402 in Lambton County to allow tow crews to get in and pull the truck free.

Warmer temperatures will give us a reprieve from the snow in the week ahead.