Weather alerts end for Ottawa-Gatineau

All weather alerts for Ottawa-Gatineau have ended after a series of tornado and severe thunderstorm warnings and watches were issued Thursday.

All across eastern Ontario and western Quebec, warnings were issued then downgraded throughout much of the afternoon.

Environment Canada confirmed a tornado occurred in Barrhavenat about 1 p.m., during a tornado warning.

The Prescott and Russell,Cornwall, Maxville, Morrisburg and Winchester areasremainunder a tornado watch, along with communities north of Gatineau.

A severe thunderstorm warning was reissued for Ottawa-Gatineauat 2:58p.m. ET,along with Richmond, Metcalfe, Kanata andOrlans, which has now ended.

Tornado watches in Smiths Falls and Perth have ended.

Tornado warnings mean a tornado has been reported or there's solid evidence a tornado is imminent.

Under a warning, advice includesgoingindoors to a strong building onitslowest floor possible away from outside walls.

Tornado watches covered an area from Renfrew, Ont.,to the Quebec border, and from Maniwaki, Que.,through Ottawa-Gatineau to Kingston, Ont., earlier Thursday.

A tornado watch was briefly updated to a tornado warning for eastern Lanark County. That ended around 11:30 a.m.

Tornado watches mean forecasters see weather conditions that could produce a tornado.

It's a similar dynamic for severe thunderstorms: watches are when they may develop, warnings are for when there's evidence one is happening.