Can any explain incident with cloud men

In Chapter 27, the passengers on the peach take note of everything around them as they float higher into the sky. As they go up, they see strange, tall, wispy white things that look like they are made of cotton-wool and candy floss and thin white hairs. Everyone is a little nervous when they first see these shapes and the passengers try to hide and keep quiet, but James and his companions soon realize that the mysterious wispy things - identified as the Cloud-Men - are making hailstones and showering them onto the world them, in practice for the winter.

Suddenly, the raucous Centipede begins taunting the Cloud-Men, even though the others try to quiet him. The effect of his yelling is immediate: the Cloud-Men launch an attack on the peach. They begin throwing hailstones and James instructs everyone to lie down. All of them can hear the hailstones whipping past their heads and smashing into the peach. The projectiles also hit Ladybug on her shell and Centipede on the nose. James instructs everyone to dive into the tunnel to avoid further injury. When they try to light the space, they realize that Glow-worm's light has been broken. Fortunately, the noise of the hailstones ceases and they all climb back up the tunnel. Now, James and his friends discover that there are no more Cloud-Men in the area.