Tornado warnings swept through London area and Oxford County on Thursday
Environment Canada issued tornado warnings shortly before 8 p.m.
Tornado and severe thunderstorm warnings swept through the region on Thursday.
Environment Canada issued a tornado warning for London, Woodstock, Tillsonburg and Oxford County shortly before 8 p.m.
Canadians in the region were prompted through an emergency text message alert system.
Meteorologists said they were tracking a severe thunderstorm that is moving toward Mount Elgin and is capable of producing a tornado.
Officials said the warnings were issued because the weather system was dangerous and potentially life-threatening.
"Lightning kills and injures Canadians every year," officials said in a news release. "Remember, when thunder roars, go indoors!"
Earlier on Thursday, London, Strathroy and parts of Middlesex County were under a severe thunderstorm warning for much of Thursday afternoon.
Scattered thunderstorms developed from near Windsor, through east of Lake Huron and up north of Georgian Bay. These storms tracked eastward across southern, central and northeastern Ontario during the afternoon and early evening hours.
Officials warned about isolated damaging wind gusts, small hail, torrential downpours and frequent lightning.
<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ONStorm?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ONStorm</a> north from Tillsonburg <a href="https://t.co/3EF6ahLBp2">pic.twitter.com/3EF6ahLBp2</a>
—@henrydcollinsHail the size of golf balls just north of London. <a href="https://twitter.com/CTVLondon?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CTVLondon</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/CTVNationalNews?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CTVNationalNews</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/AM980News?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@AM980News</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/weathernetwork?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@weathernetwork</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/onstorm?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#onstorm</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/lindonontario?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#lindonontario</a> <a href="https://t.co/hk2KhAJSmc">pic.twitter.com/hk2KhAJSmc</a>
—@FrontPorchReadsBeauty storm near Chatham! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/onstorm?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#onstorm</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/StormhunterTWN?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@StormhunterTWN</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/southernon_wx?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@southernon_wx</a> <a href="https://t.co/9WLVokrxy5">pic.twitter.com/9WLVokrxy5</a>
—@ONwxchaser