SHEEP farmers across Scotland are battling to keep their flocks alive and their businesses afloat as the arctic conditions continue to freeze the country.

Snowdrifts as deep as 6ft have buried ewes and newborn lambs, leaving hundreds feared dead, while frozen and blocked roads have cut off essential deliveries of feed.

A National Farmers Union official said the snow could not have hit at a worse time – during the lambing season – and many flocks were facing losses.

The icy conditions have also caused heartache for dairy farmers who were forced to pour milk down the drain because collections were impossible.

As the country battled to cope with the snow, electricity outages added to the misery for rural communities. Travel agents meanwhile reported a surge in last-minute bookings to warmer destinations.

On Arran and in Kintyre and Argyll, at least 3300 homes were still without power last night as about 400 engineers struggled through the atrocious conditions to reach pylons.

Joan Boam, who runs Barmagachan Farm in Dumfries and Galloway with her husband John, said: "These are the worst conditions I can remember for maybe 15 years. Some of our 450 sheep have been buried and we have had to dig them out. You just have to poke a long stick and find them under the snow. We don't know how many will be dead, but we might find some."

The EU has provided some relief by granting a week-long relaxation of working-time rules for drivers handing out animal feed, but some fear the damage has already been done.

David Kirkpatrick, whose Auchenbainzie farm is 20 miles north of Dumfries, said he fears dozens of his livestock are dead and thinks the effects of the freeze will be felt long after the snow melts.

He said: "It started three or four weeks ago being cold, with no warmth in the atmosphere at all. Then we had the storm on Friday and Saturday and it is not going away.

"It's remaining cold for the foreseeable future and that is going to be the killer for animals who have already gone through a hard winter. It is an accumulation of negative events. We can cope with a storm, storms happen. It is the duration of this which is causing problems."

Andrew McCornick, a regional chairman of National Farmers Union of Scotland, said: "We are well through our annual lambing so the snow couldn't have hit at a worse time. We have managed to dig our way around most of the fields with ewes and lambs in them.

"We managed to get feed to those that we have found and we have been digging many of them out of the snow. The drifting snow is so bad that there are still many vulnerable sheep that we are still battling to get to and we know that we are likely to face losses when the snow has cleared."

Mr McCornick, whose stocks of hay are due to run out by tomorrow, said efforts should be focused on clearing farm roads to ease the pressure of feed and fuel shortages.

He added: "I know some farmers

are calving cows outside as well as lambing, so they will be in a hellish place. There is a feeling of hopelessness but you just have to put your head down and carry on with what, on a lot of farms, is a salvage operation."

Rural Affairs Secretary Richard Lochhead said he was speaking to the National Farmers Union to assess the extent of the problem.

On Arran, all schools were closed yesterday while local hotels supplied with generators were used as emergency centres. Arran War Memorial Hospital is operating on a back-up generator and has full power. The Red Cross supplied blankets and hot water bottles to islanders.

About 100 people a day are taking advantage of Lamlash fire station's hot refreshments and showers.

Cambridge University trainee scientists, stranded on the islands, won plaudits after dishing out hot coffee and food to homebound locals.

Councillor John Bruce said: "It was like watching an army exercise as those big generators came off the ferries."

ScottishPower said electricity supplies to properties in Galloway had now been re-connected.

Travel operators have reported a surge in demand for Easter holidays in the sun, while Scotland's ski resorts are hoping for a bumper bank holiday – claiming perfect snow for winter sports.

However, Cairngorm Mountain was closed yesterday because of too much snow. Last year at this time it was closed because there was no snow at all with the country basking in a spring heatwave.