Behind the scenes of storm set to devastate Emmerdale on 50th anniversary special

• The crew used high-powered wind machines to create 130mph gusts

It's a major anniversary being marked in suitably dramatic fashion.

ITV News has been given exclusive behind-the-scenes access to see the extraordinary work taking place to create a storm which is set to cause devastation on Emmerdale, as the soap celebrates its 50th birthday.

Millions of viewers are expected to tune in for what could be the final episode for a host of characters this weekend.

Director Tim O'Mara said: "It's going to be sensational, no one is safe. There's a possibility of eight or nine characters not being around."

The production team has worked tirelessly to create stormy winds for the milestone episode, in which viewers will see cars being flipped, trees destroyed and buildings damaged.

The scale of the stunts has never been attempted on a UK soap.

Tim added: "I really want to make Emmerdale more of a film this time around. It's the most ambitious thing I have ever done. Viewers are in for a number of surprises, they will see parts of the village absolutely destroyed.

"We do go to the hospital on a number of visits, a number of people hurt by debris flying around the village, there are accidents in the woods, trees falling on people, there are massive accidents at the farm. And there's, of course, a wedding."

Emmerdale began life as Emmerdale Farm on Yorkshire Television in 1972, billed as "the living story of the Sugden family".

Originally intended to fill a lunchtime slot for only 13 weeks, it was initially filmed in the village of Arncliffe, North Yorkshire, before moving to Esholt near Bradford.

It is now shot on a specially built site on the Harewood estate.

The striking Yorkshire scenery provides the show with its distinctive backdrop. But it was the unlikely Yorkshire sunshine which caused a headache for those trying to create convincing storm conditions for the special episode.

Judy Lysaght, the visual effects supervisor, will be using smart special effects to generate stormy clouds.

"It's the one thing I said – please let's not have sunshine," she said. "But because I'm just going to be replacing the skies, then I'll be removing all the clouds, and putting in the racing clouds in. So hopefully, by the end of it, it will look like a storm."

Wind machines capable of 130mph gusts were used to create hurricane-like conditions in the middle of summer.

Nicole Wheeler, who plays Nicola King, said the same scenes had to be shot a number of times.

"I remember they cranked them up to 100% and you literally can't walk against them. What we have to do is, we film the scenes with the wind machines on, but they are so noisy, so we then shoot the sequence again without the wind machines but we as actors have to reenact what they were like. You just found yourself screaming at each other."

On Thursday night, Emmerdale took home the biggest award of the night at the National Television Awards.

The cast were also stunned by a special video message from King Charles to celebrate the soaps five decades on screen, who praised the show as a an "amazing British export."

• A special hour-long episode of Emmerdale will air on ITV at 7pm on Sunday, 16 October, 50 years to the day since it first aired.

Listen to the latest episode of Unscripted, the ITV News arts and entertainment podcast with Arts Editor Nina Nannar: