Citrus, pumpkin, carrot and onion plantations in Uruguay's Salto region have suffered heavy losses from unusually-sized hail, website Elpais.com.uy reported.

Colonia Corralitos zone producer Jorge Omar De Mattos, told the website the hailstorm was focused on the area where the Uruguay and Dayman Rivers meet.

"I've never seen anything like this, the sky became black from the south and suddenly the rain came and hail the size of chicken eggs fell for some moments," De Mattos was quoted as saying.

"The worst thing for me is that I don't have insurance because I am in dispute with the Banco de Seguros (Insurance Bank) for an evaluation they gave me before and they don't want to recognize they were wrong."

Weather website MetUruguay reported hail affected much of the country from Saturday through Monday, registering hail with diameter of three centimeters in the city of Nuevo Helvetia, Colonia.

Photo: Cristina Kurowski, MetUruguay

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