Mexico city hailstorm dumps five foot of ice across area in freak summer storm

Six suburbs were hit with up to five foot of treacherous ice, with the thundering storm hitting the city at around 1am local time (7am BST) on Sunday morning. Vehicles were left half buried, while many homes and businesses were destroyed by the storm. Machinery and protection soldiers were deployed to clear the streets after local officials reported mass flooding and fallen trees.

Some streets were transformed into rivers of dense moving hail and several people had to be rescued from the roofs of their cars.

Local officials also reported flooding and fallen trees, but no-one is thought to have been hurt.

There had been no reported injuries or fatalities in the city of six million people, authorities said.

However, the state protection office said two people had displayed “early signs of hypothermia”.

The freak weather came while the city normally enjoys temperatures of 28C in July and 31C in June.

Seasonal hailstorms have occurred in the region before – but Sunday’s hailstorm was said to be the heaviest the city had ever seen.

According to AFP, state governor Enrique Alfaro said the storm was evidence that climate change posed a serious threat.

He said: “I’ve never seen such scenes in Guadalajara. Then we ask ourselves if climate change is real.

“These are never-before-seen natural phenomena.”

The metroopolitan area, located north of Mexico City and one of the most populous in the country, was experiencing temperatures of around 31C before the freak hailstorm hit.

Elsewhere in Mexico, a tropical storm formed off the south coast of the country.

The US National Hurrican Center said storm Barbara was expected to reach hurricane strength but was not thought to make landfall.

The tropical storm was located around 850 miles south of the southern tip of the Baja California Peninsula on Sunday.