Fall colours: Why are trees changing colour early in eastern Ontario [Video]

It has been sunshine and warm temperatures to start the month of September, but some trees in eastern Ontario appear to be getting a jump start on fall.

Some leaves on trees across the region have begun changing colour earlier than usual. Experts say it is due to unusual weather.

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“You tend to find more stressed trees that will show early autumnal and leaf senescence,” explains Sean Thomas, a professor of forestry at the University of Toronto.

Thomas says the excessive rainfall that Ontario has seen this summer is the main factor, with Ottawa experiencing its wettest summer in the last five years.

“You get muted colours in a drought year,” Thomas says. “This year we’ve had the opposite, to an extreme. So the more stressed trees tend to be trees that have their feet …