THE North East copped the brunt of a storm cell which brought dramatic lightning and golf ball–sized hailstones early yesterday morning.

Trees fell and buildings suffered minor damage throughout the region, with Wangaratta SES crews the busiest in the North East, called to nine requests for assistance through to 2pm yesterday.

Water covered parts of Greta Road, while residents awoke to hail stones on cars and in gutters, as Wangaratta Aerodrome's Automatic Weather Station (AWS) recorded 7.8mm of rain during a 50 minute downpour ...