Grapefruit-sized hail hits Australia's east coast

FILE PHOTO: Huge hailstones pelt into a garage in Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia October 19, 2021, in this still image obtained from video. Courtesy of Greg Hateley / Social Media via REUTERS

CANBERRA (Reuters) - Record-sized hailstones fell across Australia's east coast this week, with ice pellets larger than grapefruits lashing residents in parts of Queensland, the country's metereology bureau said on Wednesday.

A thunderstorm struck the Yalboroo area north of Mackay, 954 km (593 miles) north of Brisbane on Monday, bringing record-sized hailstones measuring 16 cm (6.3 inches) in diameter, the Bureau of Metereology (BOM) said.