Storm Arwen: Onecote farmers dig sheep from snow

The sheep are now in the barn at the farm, Nev Barker said

Sheep farmers were left to dig their flock from snow drifts in the wake of Storm Arwen.

Nev Barker, who runs Herdwicks of Highfields Farm in Onecote, Staffordshire, with his wife Kate said they were met with heavy snow on Saturday morning.

He said it was a "worrying couple of hours" finding the 50-strong flock amid the snow, but all were located.

The farm was also left without power for about 62 hours, Mr Barker said.

Mr Barker said from around 06:00 GMT on Saturday, "all hell broke loose", as they had to use their generator to provide power, before searching for their sheep.

Some were buried amid snow drifts in front of the farm's barn, and the couple shared pictures on Twitter of them digging some of their flock from the snow.

Mr Barker said they initially only found six of the animals, but once they returned to the farm they found the majority had made their own way there. The final few were then dug out of the snow.

"They're in the barn now, with lots of feeders full of hay," Mr Barker said.

"We have had to dig them out again because the snow kept coming on Saturday and the wind, which is the worst thing.

"What we've had before with the Beast of the East was it buried them inside the barn."

The majority of the sheep found their way to the barn

After being without power since Saturday, Mr Barker said it returned on Monday evening.

The farm is still "snowed in", he said, and the couple will need to check the walls surrounding the farm to see if any have come down in the storm.