Farmers warned as red alert issued over weather

No farms were closed yesterday due to the weather, a Facebook message pointed out – but the industry certainly wasn’t insulated from the icy blast and drifting snow which plagued many areas of the country.

While the weather tested the resilience of sheep and cattle on hillsides around the country, it also meant that they had to eat deeper into already scarce stocks of feed and forage on farms which were already suffering from fodder shortages due to last year’s wet summer.

Andtheagriculturaladvisory weather panel – set up in November last year by the Scottish Government – said that it recognised that livestock required to be fed and attended to, whatever the weather. “We would urge farmers to take care as they undertake their essential tasks in these extremely adverse weather conditions,” said a spokesman.

He said the panel would meet again shortly to consider the impact of the current extreme weather and to see what measures might be required to support the resilience of the sector.

But with the current red weather warning – the highest level – issued for Scotland’s Central Belt continuing until 10 am today, the Met Office said farmers in higher areas around Scotland’s Central Belt could expect up to 40 cm of snow.

“A red warning is more than a heads-up,” said a Met Office spokesman, “It is a real warning that there could be a threat to life and that action should be taken to prepare for an extreme weather episode, with severe disruption expected on the roads, rails and at airports, with likely disruption to power supplies and the possibility of power outages and rural communities being cut off.”

Despitethebbcdropping the Met Office as their official supplier of weather information after 96 years – with the Meteogroup taking over this service last month – the Met Office remains responsible for issuing severe weather warnings.

It will also continue to work with organisations such as the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency and other environmental bodies charged with issuing flood alerts.