Thứ Hai, 25 tháng 3, 2013

Many animals feared dead amid snow

Lambs in Dumfries and GallowayMany farmers are reportedly unable to get to their animals

Farmers fear that thousands of sheep and cattle have died in the snow that has hit in recent days.

Northern Ireland farmer Catherine Crawford said: "There are hundreds of farmers who have sheep buried."

"We are very, very, anxious," said Carolyn Lamb from NFU Scotland, who added that the full toll would not be known until the snow melted.

In England, the NFU said farmers in Cumbria and Shropshire had been worst hit, with hundreds of animals lost.

"There are animals going to die here and are dying; we need help out in the rural areas," said Ms Crawford.

Campbell Tweed, a farmer from Cairncastle near Larne in County Antrim, said some of his sheep were getting their first feed in four days.

"Road conditions are just incredibly bad. There's places where the snow at the side of the road is higher than the vehicles. It's coming late in a very, very tough winter - it's just putting the tin hat on it for many of us."

There were also fears of "catastrophic losses," with thousands of animals buried, on the Isle of Man. According to the Isle of Man meteorological office, the island's recent snowfall was the heaviest recorded since 1963.

Around 5,450 homes remain without power in Scotland and Northern Ireland after snow and strong winds damaged cables.

Around 3,500 homes on Kintyre and 1,500 on Arran are waiting to be reconnected, while a further 250 homes remain without electricity in Wigtownshire (Dumfries and Galloway).

Sheep farmer James McHenry with his lambing shed, which collapsed with the weight of snow over the weekend, killing sheep and lambs at his farm in the Glens of Antrim, Northern IrelandFarmer James McHenry lost sheep and lambs when his lambing shed collapsed under snow in County Antrim

A Met Office "yellow warning" urging people to be aware of the risk of ice and snow remains in force for Scotland, Northern Ireland, north-east England and the Yorkshire-Humber region.

Although road routes on the south of Arran had opened up, the BBC's Colin Blane, at Blackwaterfoot, said: "It's very difficult to get over to the west side. We came through a road that really was like a canyon, the snow 8-10 feet high and room only for only one vehicle.

In Northern Ireland, about 140,000 homes lost electricity at some point over the weekend, and about 200 households remained cut off on Monday.

Derbyshire County Council has said snow that has hit parts of the county are the worst the area has experienced for 50 years.

In Cumbria, electricity supplies have now been restored to all areas, and many roads have reopened after the weekend's severe weather.

However, road access to the hamlet of Hall Waberthwaite, near Millom, were still blocked by drifts on Monday and one resident said their situation was "dire", with food in the 10 properties starting to run out.

Temperatures in March

In its forecast, the Met Office issued an extension to its previous amber alert for "severe weather action".

It said there was a 100% probability of severe cold weather and icy conditions between 08:00 GMT on Monday and 08:00 GMT on Friday in parts of England.

"Bitterly cold easterly winds will persist this week, bringing snow showers to north-east England and light snow flurries across other areas of England.

"With lying snow and partial snow melt during the daytimes, icy conditions are likely during the nights," it said.

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UK forecast for 25/03/2013

Map Key

  • land colour Land
  • cloud colour Cloud
  • Lakes, Rivers & Sea colour Lakes, Rivers & Sea

Fog

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Frost

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Pressure Fronts

Cold Front Illustration
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Warm Front Illustration
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Occluded Front Illustration
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Rain

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Snow

Snow Colour Range

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Temperature (°C)

Temperature range chart

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