A freak hailstorm hit in Northern Spain with hail the size of golf balls raining down from the Heavens.  They came down in such force that sheep and smaller animals were killed during the storm.  The hail storm was so strong that the hailstones were bouncing off the ground.

 Footage has emerged showing giant hail stones battering Spain during a savage summer storm.

Lumps of ice the size of golf balls hammered down during the freak downfall which was captured on camera in the north of the country.

Video shows the hail stones coming down with such force that they bounce back up off the ground.

The clip picks up the sound of the hailstones pounding the roof of one building and thudding into the ground outside.

It is not yet known whether the storm, which struck on July 13, caused any injuries.

The freak conditions were the latest to hit Spain this month.

Footage emerged of a hail storm hitting the town of Almazan, just outside the city of Soria – also in northern Spain.

It was so strong that emergency crews needed snow ploughs to clear the streets.

Another storm this month saw hail lash down on Murcia in southern Spain.

Hail falls after drops of water are continuously taken up and down through cumulonimbus clouds. When the drops go to the top of the cloud, they freeze.

Cumulonimbus clouds can grow especially large during summer when hot sun heats the ground causing warm air to rise.

Updraughts in thunderclouds are big and can keep hailstones for a long time, meaning they can get larger and larger by becoming coated with more and more ice, according to the Met Office.

Eventually, when they become too big for the cloud to hold, they fall to earth as balls of ice.

H/T The Mail Online