'Tough' lambing season hits major hill sheep sale

Lambs at Lairg's auction mart

Bad spring and summer weather has affected one of Europe's biggest one-day sales of hill sheep.

Between 13,000 and 14,000 lambs were expected to be sold at Lairg in Sutherland.

But United Auctions said numbers were down due to losses suffered on Highland farms and crofts.

Peter Myles, chairman of the National Sheep Association's Scottish region, said wet and cold weather had hit at the worst time during the latest lambing season.

Thousands of sheep were put up for auction, but numbers were down on previous years

The lambs, many of them Cheviots, were born in Sutherland and are moved on for raising on farms elsewhere in Scotland and England.

As many as 20,000 sheep have been sold at previous sales.

Mr Myles told BBC Radio's Good Morning Scotland programme the quality of grazing for sheep was badly affected by poor weather in spring.

He added: "The weather got cold and wet just at the worst possible time during the lambing.

"There were considerable losses throughout the UK."

Donald Young, of United Auctions, said: "I think farmers have had a pretty tough year with the weather.

"There was rain, sleet and even snow when it was supposed to be nice weather."