This is the incredible moment a farmer rescues barely-alive sheep after they spend more than 24 hours covered in a frozen snowdrift.
Farmer Mike Boustead from Cumbria, UK, sets out into the frozen landscape after some of his Rough Fell sheep go missing amid a cold snap in the UK in March 2018.
The sheep, seeking refuge from the icy winds, hide behind traditional dry stone walls – but quickly become buried under massive snowdrifts.
"We're ten short out of 90," Boustead says. "So they'll either be buried somewhere or they'll have climbed over the snowdrifts onto the fell."
The weather is inclement, to say the least – Boustead's robust tractor even needing assistance to move in the heavy snow.
After he feeds his sheep that are very much not buried, he starts digging.
The farmer describes it as finding "a needle in a haystack".
Upon digging into the massive snowdrifts, Boustead and other members of his family find some of the missing sheep – but he says many are "in a bad way".
One can be seen limp and barely breathing.
But being resilient animals, the sheep quickly recover – even after being covered in snow for more than a day.
