City to open warming centres ahead of blast of cold weather Monday night

The city is opening its warming centres ahead of a blast of cold weather expected to hit Toronto on Monday evening.

In a news release on Monday, the city saidit isalso announcing a fourth location at Cecil Community Centre. The new location brings the total number of spaces for those seeking respite from winter weather to more than140, with 75 of those located downtown.

The centres will open Monday night at 7 p.m.and will stay open until further notice:

• Scarborough Civic Centre, 150 Borough Dr., which has 17 spaces.
• Metro Hall, 55 John St., which has 45 spaces.
• Mitchell Field Community Centre, 89 Church Ave., which has 50 spaces.
• Cecil Community Centre, 58 Cecil St., which has 30 spaces.

The city saidif a warming centre is at capacity, it will assist transporting someone in need to another location.

Warming centres are activated when an extreme cold weather alert is issued by Toronto's Medical Officer of Health, usually when the weather is expected to be 15 C. This latest alert was issued in anticipation of colder weather for the next 24 hours or longer, the release said.

Monday evening will see a low of 11 C. Overnight, with wind chill, it will feel like18 overnight.

The announcement comes after public scrutiny on the city's handling of its warming centres in recent weeks, when winter storms have landed in Toronto and the GTA.

The city's own data shows nearly 9,000 people are using its shelter system, and that the system turnedmore than 100 people away nightlyover the month of December.