'Thundersnow' and 'insane' hail hits parts of Greater Manchester covering roads in minutes in sudden storm

'Thundersnow' and hail hit parts of Greater Manchester this morning in a sudden storm. Rumblings of thunder were heard across the region before what appeared to be hail began coming down in ferocious downpours.

Roads in many areas were covered with the white stuff in a matter of minutes. People living in areas including Oldham, Tameside and the city centre posted pictures of surfaces looking like they would following a snowstorm before the sun quickly broke back out ahgain.

Local Twitter forecaster Oldham Weather said he believed it was in fact Graupel, small pellets formed when supercooled water droplets freeze onto a snow crystal.

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It is often softer than hail which is pure ice formed in thunderstorms. Gareth Thompson said: "It's like someone has sprinkled polystyrene everywhere."

Jill Baron who lives in Broadbottom in Tameside said: "A few huge hailstones, lightning, thunder then a full on hailstorm for just a few minutes."

Cath Aubergine posted a picture of her work's car park completely covered. "It's stopped now and the sky's bright again" she said. "People think I'm joking when I say Oldham has its own (deranged) climate but coming up the seven whole miles from Manchester every day I notice it!"

However Gareth Worthington posted a picture of a wintry Deansgate in the city centre describing the conditions as 'insane.'

Further bands of rain, hail, sleet and snow are possible throughout the rest of the day say forecasters as the changeable conditions move acrosss the north west.