CLIMATE CHANGE
Updated: Sep 2
Too Hot
There are certain circumstances to cause sheep to feel hot. Now, with weather being, for extensive periods, hotter, and alongside, rainfall being absent or little, a situation is being reached of those circumstances being more intense and of more danger to sheep. Without ways of amelioration being identified and acted upon by humans, sheep have potential to be dangerously hot, and victim also to other effects of higher-temperature weather.
The basics, relating to heat, which sheep have always needed are: food; clean, fresh, water; shade and shelter; comfort, when they are demanded to travel, to appear at shows and events, to be at sales; to be kept away from situations where they could contact disease.
With the presence of the combination of hot weather and drought, usual pasture will not grow or will become parched, hay will be a substitute for fresh grass provided it is not in short-supply, is financially affordable, other plant crops, to be supplementary feed, may not have grown (or may have become unfit for use from become waterlogged in a period of extensive rain). Provided drinking water, if left standing long, and in sun and heat, may not be palatable to sheep or safe for them to drink. Drinking water sources for sheep amid nature, such as streams and rivers, may have dried up completely, or else partly and to leave remaining water not accessible to sheep. Sufficient shade and shelter, of a kind to protect sheep and keep them from over-heating in very hot weather, may not be present. Usual accommodation in which sheep are put at shows, and sales, may not be adequately cool without more ventilation etc being provided. Showing sheep outdoors in heat of day will likely be terribly hot for sheep, and so changes of venue or time should be demanded. Wildfires, of land parched dry and so to be very flammable, have become features of summer; they can destroy sheep’s grazing, affect sheep badly from the smoke, and burn sheep, and can cause them death.
In a piece ‘Royal Norfolk Show defends going ahead despite red heat health warning’ itvNEWS reported ‘the organisers of the show have insisted extra measures are in place to ensure animals are safe, including water troughs, cooling buckets’ and with a spokesperson saying ‘The welfare of animals attending our show remains our highest priority.’. And itvNEWS also said , ‘Commenting on a recent Facebook post by the show, user Jade Money said “So many schools have cancelled their trip to your show due to risk to health. How about you do the same with animals?” '(24th June 2026).
Now to look at what relevant organisations and bodies had advised in relation to sheep and hot weather.
The NFU (National Farmers Union) on 8th July 2026 provided a detailed page ‘Transporting livestock and birds in hot weather - advice and guidance’ outlining ‘legal responsibilities and good practice.’ Good Practice included ’Short Journeys, Maintain airflow, Avoid hottest times of the day, Give due consideration for animals with full fleece’.
On 19th June 2025, the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA), a UK Government department, provided the Guidance ‘Keeping farm animals and horses in extreme weather’. The portions on extreme hot weather give advice which includes ‘You should be familiar with the signs and symptoms of heat stress in livestock …. If animals eat less feed due to hot weather, you may need to adjust their diet rations to make sure that animals still receive enough nutrients …. Animals will drink and use more water during periods of hot weather …. The greatest risk to animals from lack of water is dehydration. Young animals, housed animals on dry feed only, and lactating animals are at greatest risk.’
In the Guidance, among things said by DEFRA under the heading ‘Transporting animals in extreme hot weather’, DEFRA says that a person ‘should not transport animals in temperatures over 30°C …. should plan to avoid transporting animals in the hotter parts of the day … should travel early in the morning or overnight where possible … should make sure all watering and ventilation systems on vehicles are fully functional and animals have access to fresh water’.
DEFRA continues, ‘During a journey you should:
minimise handling during loading and unloading
reduce stocking density by at least 30%
increase headroom to maximise ventilation and air movement in the vehicle
park in shaded areas during rest stops
check the animals more often to check for signs that heat stress such as panting, high respiration rate and sweating.’
AHDB (the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board) in its ‘Managing sheep in hot weather’ directions gives the instruction: ‘Give special attention to lambs because they are more susceptible to heat stress than adult sheep’.
The RSPCA, in the section ‘Sheep’ of a piece titled ‘Caring for farm animals in hot weather’, speaks about fleece, and about transportation and movement. It advises, ‘Monitor newly-shorn sheep very closely because, more likely to suffer heat stress than fully fleeced sheep, as the fleece acts as insulation against the heat.’ It continues: Moving fully fleeced sheep around in hot weather can increase the risk of heat stress, which makes it more difficult for them to cope with heat. Transport and handling put extra stress on animals, which make it more difficult for them to cope with the heat, so:
Avoid transporting animals in hot weather unless it’s absolutely necessary.
Where possible, move them during the coolest part of the day – at night is usually the best time.’
In a 13th August 2026 piece ‘Farmers urged to shear sheep as disease risk intensifies’ the NFU states ‘Acting NFU Livestock Board Chair Clare Wise is urging sheep producers not to delay shearing amid growing concerns over the rapid spread of the bluetongue (BTV) virus and soaring temperatures, saying it is crucial practice to maintain animal health and welfare.’
The NFU then says:
‘The NFU is aware that mispleading information is circulating advising farmers not to shear their sheep this summer or in early autumn, in an effort to reduce the likelihood of BTV-3 infection.
The NFU is urging sheep producers to disregard this advice warning it could have serious consequences for animal health and welfare.
With high temperatures affecting various parts of the UK, shearing sheep to help alleviate heat stress is a vital part of meeting their welfare needs.
Additionally, heat stress may worsen morbidity and mortality associated with BTV-3.
Reminding producers that shearing remains an essential animal husbandry practice and, during periods of high temperatures, can be critical for animal health and welfare, Acting NFU Livestock Board Chair Clare Wise said “As temperatures remain high across many parts of the country, it’s increasingly important that sheep producers take every practical step to minimise heat stress within their flocks. That must include shearing.’
NFU says Claire Wise went on to remark:
‘... shearing … is absolutely vital for safeguarding health and welfare, particularly in hot weather.’
‘Sheep farmers should continue to work closely with their vets, maintain strong biosecurity measures and make use of vaccination as an important tool in protecting livestock.’
DEFRA provided a ‘Bluetongue: latest situation’ on 18th August 2026. It said that ‘The midges that spread bluetongue became active again on 31 March 2026’, and explaining, ‘Temperatures are consistently high enough in parts of the UK and nearby continental Europe for the virus to develop inside the midges. This means onward transmission is now occurring and there is increased risk of transmission from midges blown across the Channel.’
On 24th June 2026, RSPCA Assured (‘the RSPCA’s ethical food label and farmed animal welfare assurance scheme’) in a piece ‘RSPCA Assured issues important advice to farmers as temperatures soar’ provided ‘Top tips for farmers on keeping livestock cool as Brits brace for a heatwave’. Among topic headings were these: ‘Air Flow and Ventilation, Shade and clean water, Reduce transport and movement time’.
There have always been circumstances which will cause sheep to be hot, or which have potential to make them so. Examples of what will likely cause a sheep to be hot are: being in a field or other place without any shelter from sun; being put tightly in a pen at a show or elsewhere; being exported live on an overcrowed and unhygienic deck on a ship; being hurried by a sheep dog. Now we have climate change, believed to be caused by humans, and contributed to by some farm animals. In months recently and now - in many parts of the world - temperatures have been significantly higher than used to and expected. A context, composed of different things, has come into existence, for sheep to be made hotter, too hot. Some of the causes of sheep to be too hot, represent intensification and increases of items already often to cause heat to be hot. Also, because of other items becoming too hot, are sheep affected - often badly. Hot weather brings sheep’s pasture to be parched, it brings it also to not provide ‘as usual’ nutrition. And supplementary feed crops for sheep may not grow or flourish. In hot weather, sheep’s drinking water becomes unpleasant, and perhaps to carry bacteria and viruses to represent dangers to sheep health. Heat can bring insects. Transportation of sheep in an environment temperature which is too hot; sheep appearing at shows, at events, in too hot weather; can give sheep heat stress – or, if the temperature is very high, death even.
We realise now that climate change is now. Ways of trying to improve the situation in the ‘too hot context’ are now being considered or encouraged. Among these are: farmers creating means on their farms to hold water, such as reservoirs; growing drought-tolerant plants.
High-temperature weather is too hot for sheep in two ways: directly, and from intense heat upon their needs and environments.
20th August 2026