Scottish snowy snap proves a challenge at lambing

Last week Aberdeenshire was breaking records as the hottest part of Britain, but last night winter returned in force with howling blizzards, 8in of snow and a serious challenge to newborn lambs.

The sudden, overnight change from burning sunshine to freezing snow meant lamb losses and a brief spell of chaos for NFU Scotland hill farming committee member Sandy Tulloch, who farms at 1000ft and is in the midst of his second phase of lambing.

“I was out at 4.45am and the snow was so deep the quad couldn’t get through to the flock which is lambing outside,” he said.

“It was a howling blizzard but as the day went on the snow has been melting and we’re on top of things now. Shelter is tight so we don’t take the lambs in till they’re born. The lambs which were born a fortnight ago and are outside seem to be managing fine.”

Most high hill farmers in Scotland don’t start lambing until 20 April and Ian Wilson, NFUS regional manager for the Highlands, said the sudden change in weather had not posed a serious problem in his area.

“The main problems have been caused by power losses, especially in the Black Isle and we’ve had reports of difficulty getting access to buildings because of the snow but this is the sort of weather we expect in the Highlands in April,” he said.

“It has just been a shock to the system because it has come after two weeks of hot sunshine.”

Meanwhile Met Office figures for the past month showed that it was the third warmest March since records began in 1910 – and the warmest since 1957.

On 27 March Aboyne in Aberdeenshire, recorded a high of 23.6C setting a new record for Scotland.

The settled conditions brought hardly any rain and overall only 38% of the UK’s average monthly rainfall was recorded.

This was the equivalent of 36.4mm resulting in the fifth driest March on record.