High pressure had moved in from China, causing thunderstorms, strong winds and hail in the North and Northeast, the department said.

Bangkok and the South were also hit by storms.

An hour-long hailstorm damaged about 200 homes in Chiang Rai's Mae Suay district yesterday, but there were no reports of injuries.

Prasit Singthong, a local leader, said his area was pelted with longan-sized hailstones.

Fierce winds ripped roofs off homes and knocked down walls, he said, describing the storm as the worst in years.

The longan-growing areas of Padad and Mae Saruey were badly hit, he said.

A hailstorm hit a village in Phitsanulok's Wang Thong district, damaging about 50 houses.

Village headwoman Pranom Tuenkoom, 40, said the storm struck in the afternoon, causing people to flee their homes.

Saithong Donkongmee, 59, said she watched helplessly as the roof was torn off her house.

"A wall collapsed on me and my grandsons. When the wind died down, villagers rescued us," Saithong said.

On Friday night, a hailstorm caused an estimated Bt300,000 in damage to a village in Sa Kaew's Aranyaprathet district.

District chief Jirawat Singdee said the roofs were ripped off some houses in Prasongsuk village during the three-hour storm that began at about 7pm.

"The hailstorm damaged about 30 houses, of which 10 were destroyed and are uninhabitable," Jirawat said, after visiting the village with relief officials.

The storm knocked down electricity poles, leaving the village without power throughout the night.

It also felled trees, blocking roads at entrances to the village.

Villager Lamun Kongparn, 68, told Jirawat she had never seen a hailstorm of such intensity.

"The hail was so dense that the sky was all white," Lamun said.

"The storm became a cyclone and blew away the roof of my house. I had to rescue my grandsons," she said.

Lamun said the hailstones were thumb-sized.