Deadly hail storm rains down on Siberian beach

The freak downpour left bathers dashing for shelter from large balls of ice

Beach-goers seek cover under an umbrella (YouTube)

A sudden hail storm in Siberia left beach-goers in Novosibirsk desperately seeking cover and claimed the lives of two young children in a nearby town.

Footage filmed in the eastern city of Novosibirsk shows sunbathers and swimmers fleeing their towels and the water to seek shelter from the freak storm, which saw the wind whip up and temperatures suddenly drop from 41 to 21 degrees.

A large number of people can be seen enjoying themselves on the bank of the River Ob when the ice balls come hurtling from the heavens.

People can be heard shouting as the relentless storm seems never-ending, but there were no reported injuries on the beach.

However, according to the Associated Press, two young children were killed in the onslaught - although this is not shown in the video - in a town not far from Novosibirsk.

The Investigative Committee said in a statement published online on Monday that two young girls aged three and four had been killed in the lakeside town of Bredsk. The two girls died after sustaining traumatic brain injuries when a tree fell on their tent, where they were taking shelter from the storm along with their families.

Weather has been unusually extreme across much of Russia this summer, with snow hitting parts of central Russia that rarely see freezing temperatures in summer.