Farmers in County Durham struggling to get water to livestock during 'worst cold snap in decades'

Reporter Helen Carnell has been to a farm in County Durham where they are struggling to get drinking water to their livestock

A farm in County Durham is battling against the freezing weather to ensure pregnant cattle and sheep remain fed and watered during the cold snap.

Stephen Lamb, from Doe Park Farm, in Cotherstone, near Barnard Castle, said the sub-zero temperatures this week are unlike anything he has seen for decades.

He told ITV Tyne Tees: "I'm 60 years old, and I can't remember temperatures like this here since the 1970s or 80s.

"Farming is very hard going, but it's in our blood, since I was a small child all I wanted to do was farm, and I hope some of my family will want to continue from me."

Stephen is facing challenges to ensure that the roughly 250 sheep on his farm continue to have access to drinking water.

He has had to use a hammer to break thick ice on his water troughs, but is concerned the pipes which supply them will also freeze up, and has moved his flock closer to a reliable water supply.

Meanwhile in the cattle sheds, boiling water from kettles is being used to try and prevent the pipes from freezing, and buckets have been filled with water in case the supply does stop.

Alison Lamb has been pouring boiling water onto pipes in her cattle shed to try and prevent them from freezing. Credit: ITV Tyne Tees

Alison Lamb, who farms the land with her husband, said: "A lot of the ewes are pregnant at the moment, so obviously we need to keep an eye on their health.

"Some of the cattle are also pregnant, they're due within the next three or four weeks, so obviously feed, water and warmth are all really important for them."

The North East has experienced a particularly cold start to 2025, with temperatures well below freezing on many days, coupled with blasts of heavy snow.

Snow blankets parts of the North East at start of cold snap

The Met Office has said the coldest temperature of Wednesday night (8 January) was recorded in Cumbria at minus 11.2C. A spokeswoman said they are “expecting tonight (Thursday) to be another very cold night”.

The cows at Doe Park Farm in County Durham are being kept indoors, but there are concerns their supply of drinking water could stop. Credit: ITV Tyne Tees

Alison added: "Minus 15 is really cold, usually we think minus six is a bit nippy, it's the extremes of temperature that make it a little bit more unusual.

"I don't think people always appreciate what the conditions are like for us, and obviously farmers all over the country, whatever the weather's like you've just got to get on with it."

James Copeland from the National Farmers' Union said: "Farmers across the North are incredibly resilient, their priority at the moment is to make sure their business can continue.

"At some point, this snow and ice will all be melting, and that will then result in water coming down the networks, and as we've seen in other parts of the country, that's resulted in flooding."

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