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Residents in China’s Hunan Province were shocked when they were struck with hail stones the size of hen's eggs.

Extreme weather hit Chenzhou City lasting for about 15 minutes causing serious damage to the area, reports the People’s Daily Online.

After the storm on the afternoon of March 20, many people posted pictures of the huge ice rocks onto social media. Fortunately no casualties were reported. According to the report, the hailstones were more than 5cm in diameter, punching holes in the windows of parked cars. Pedestrians caught in the storm had to find shelter as it the city.

Images taken during the 15-minute shower showed streets covered with the enormous pieces of ice and slush. One person even took a picture of a boiled egg next to the hailstones to show the true scale of them.

One person managed to capture the hailstorm at a different time of the day. It showed the giant hailstones falling from the sky and bouncing off the ground.Hunan Province has a subtropical climate so this phenomena is a familiar occurrence in the lead up to spring each year.

Elsewhere in the province, drivers in Anhua County were reportedly forced to stop on a highway after heavy rain caused a large landslide.

There have also been reports that southern China’s Guangdong Province has been hit with freak weather such as typhoons and floods.

In March 2014 a week of bad weather, including the appearance of giant hailstones, claimed the lives of at least 16 people in the same Province.

Chinese web users have joked that those venturing outside should arm themselves with hard hats.