A powerful hail storm rained down on the Australian capital, Canberra.

Bad weather again brought chaos to parts of Australia, this time in the form of giant hailstones that pounded the capital Canberra and the country's second-biggest city Melbourne.

Hailstones the size of golf balls damaged public buildings, businesses, homes and cars in Canberra.

The storm brought down trees, caused flash flooding and inflicted minor injuries on two residents, emergency services officials said.

Cars were dented and windows were smashed as over 1,000 homes lost power across the suburbs in the Australian Capital Territory, local media reported.

Amateur video showed hailstones pounding a residential neighbourhood.

The woman who filmed the video can be heard exclaiming in astonishment, saying she'd never seen such a thing in her life.

The hail storm - at the height of Australia's summer - was the latest extraordinary weather event to strike the country following devastating wildfires and flash floods.

A teenage Croatian tourist was struck by lightning at the scenic Blue Mountains west of the city, local media reported.

He was treated for burns and taken to a local hospital.

Major dust storms engulfed towns in Australia's New South Wales state.

Wind gusts of 107 kilometres an hour were recorded in Dubbo as the dust storm descended over the town.

The dust storms have also affected the state's central west towns of Broken Hill, Nyngan and Parkes, local media reported.

Wildfires have devastated parts of several Australian states this summer, and recent heavy rains have caused flash flooding in the Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland states.