STORM researchers have launched an investigation into the severe thunderstorms and huge hailstones which swept the York area last Friday.

The Tornado and Storm Research Organisation (TORRO),a privately supported research body, is appealing for help from the York public.

Jonathan Webb, director of TORRO's thunderstorms division, said it would welcome any accounts of the hailstorm and photographs of the hailstones, with the location and time that they fell, as these would be invaluable to the investigation.

"Any information on strong local winds or lightning damage will likewise be of great help with our research."

He said he could be emailed directly at jonathan.webb@torro.org.uk or torrojdcw@btinternet.com. "Alternatively, a dedicated report online form can be found on our web site www.torro.org.uk/site/report_form.php.

"An initial report on the thunderstorms is expected to be presented at TORRO's annual spring conference in April 2019, at Oxford Brookes University," he added.

His appeal came as a motorist from Deighton, south of York, revealed how the hailstones damaged both her car and that of her husband.

Lisa Wasden said her car had been left covered with dents the size of a five pence piece, while her husband Gary's car had 17 dents in the bonnet, and some scratches caused by the hail, and it had now been taken away for repairs.

She said she had never seen anything like the hailstones, which fell late on Friday afternoon as the latest in a series of thunderstorms passed over the York area.

The hail appears to have fallen in the east and centre of the city. One customer who was in B & Q's store in Hull Road said the hail landing on the roof made an 'incredible' noise, adding: "We thought it was going to fall in."