Archaeologists have unearthed a large number of stone tools dating back at least 35,000 years in Western Australia.

Three people were reported to have been killed as cyclonic winds and rain ripped across Australia’s north-western coast today, tearing roofs from houses in remote towns and laying waste to at least one mining camp.

The remote north-west Australian fishing town of Onslow was lashed by torrential rain and winds gusting at 100 mph as a severe tropical cyclone crossed the coast today from the Indian Ocean, government weather authorities said.