Helicopter drops feed for animals stranded in deep snow in the North

A British Royal Air Force Chinook helicopter has started dropping feed to thousands of farm animals stranded in huge snow drifts in the North as the agriculture crisis triggered by blizzards deepened.

Thousands of animals are feared dead, but the extent of the losses is still unclear as most of the missing livestock are buried below the thick blankets of snow that have enveloped parts of counties Antrim and Down.

In some areas the drifts have reached 20 feet high.

The UK's Ministry of Defence provided the helicopter after a request from Stormont’s Agriculture Minister Michelle O’Neill.

With many farmers describing the conditions as the worst in memory, Ms O’Neill has pledged to explore the potential for providing special hardship payments for those affected.

The minister said she would table the issue with colleagues in the North's power-sharing executive on Thursday.

The helicopter flew in from England this morning and after stopping at Aldergrove airport to refuel and load up with its first cargo of feed bales, it set off on its relief mission, beginning with some of the worst-hit areas in the Glens of Antrim.

A senior official with the UK's Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD) was on board to help direct the crew to the likely locations of stranded animals. A surveillance helicopter was deployed in a bid to find missing livestock.

Medication and food have already been delivered by helicopter to people left snowbound by the severe weather.

The emergency services, Red Cross, RAF and others are co-operating to provide basic supplies like bread and milk to people snowed in for days.

Forest Service tracked vehicles known as Snowcats have also been used to access farms.

Ms O’Neill visited affected farmers in the Kilcoo area of Co Down today.

“Having seen at first hand the impact of the extreme weather conditions in this area and in east Antrim, I sympathise with the farmers and rural communities affected and acknowledge the difficulties they face currently,” she said afterwards.

“In response to these challenges, my department has put in place a number of actions to assist those in need and provide livestock with access with food.”

She added: “My officials are also monitoring the situation and continue to provide veterinary and agricultural advice to farmers to help them mitigate the effects of this severe weather.

“I appreciate that in some cases the devastating effects of the weather have resulted in sheep perishing. I encourage affected farmers to keep good records of any livestock losses and additional expenditure incurred.

“DARD does not have an emergency contingency fund to deal with extreme weather events but I will explore the issue of hardship payments and support for disposal of fallen stock with the Executive this Thursday.”

The minister praised the spirit of the farming community in adversity.

“I commend the work of local farmers and volunteers who have battled the worst of the elements to assist their neighbours,” she said.

“I am impressed by the community spirit which is characteristic of our rural areas and I know that people will continue to do what they can to be good neighbours and to assist the vulnerable and elderly in their area.”

Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Theresa Villiers said: “The extreme weather conditions have had a devastating effect on Northern Ireland’s farmers and it’s absolutely vital that we provide any support we can.

“So I’m extremely pleased that we were able to answer the Agriculture Minister Michelle O’Neill’s request for a military helicopter to get food on the ground for stranded animals.

“We continue to keep the situation under close watch and will do all we can to respond to requests to help local communities which are struggling with blocked roads and transport issues. The police and mountain rescue teams are also doing all they can to reach isolated farms.”

More than 140,000 electricity customers who lost power when the wintry blast struck the eastern counties of the region last Thursday and Friday have had supply restored.

The Department for Regional Development (DRD) said it had spent more than £80,000 trying to combat the adverse conditions, gritting around 4,350 miles of roads with 1,000 tonnes of salt.

A BT spokeswoman said the telecoms company had fixed close to 11,000 faults and damages since Friday but stressed that problems continued.

“With power resuming in premises, snow lingering on our network and flood water running into our equipment, new faults emerge, to the extent that, on average, one fault per minute is being reported to our response team,” she said.

“We have brought in additional resources and equipment to help us work through this high volume of issues, many of which are complex, and this focus will continue over the coming days and weeks until normal service is fully restored.”