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.

A traditional sheep farmer in Cumbria, England, goes in search of missing Rough Fell sheep. The weather is terrible with heavy snow and high winds causing the snow to drift in this remote region of England. The sheep shelter behind dry stone walls until eventually they become completely buried under the snow. Some farmers say that sheep can survive for up to two weeks under snow drifts but Cumbrian sheep farmer, Mike Boustead is very concerned about his flock and braves the terrible weather to search for his missing sheep. He fears that some may have been stuck under the snow for more than 2 days. However his first problem is getting to the remote fields through the deep snow. Even his tractor is getting stuck and will need to be pulled out by another tractor. But he eventually makes it and begins his search, with the help of other members of his family.