A footage released by Stonehurst Family Farm, Mountsorrel, Leicester showed one farm hand rubbing a healthy dose of sun protective cream onto a pig’s ears and head.
The five sows at Stonehurst Family Farm near Leicester needed to be protected from the sun as they did not have the usual form of protection they get from wallowing in mud.
The summer heatwave saw temperatures at the farm reached a scorching 95F (35C) earlier in the day, while other parts of the country came close to beating the all-time record from 2003.
Farm manager Jen Bevin, 28, explained that the female pigs, some of which could be pregnant, needed to be lathered sun cream to keep them safe outside.
‘We have a maternity unit here where pigs come to have their babies,’ said Jen.
‘In the wild pigs in this heat will keep cool with mud baths but because we are mainly sty-based the five sows here at the moment are liberally doused with sun cream to protect them for when they go outside.’
Today’s soaring temperatures broke the UK’s previous record of 98.1F (36.7C) for a July day by climbing to 100.6F (38.1C) in Cambridge.
The all-time temperature record for the UK came in 2003 when Faversham in Kent recorded 101.3F (38.5C).
The weather is expected to change dramatically over the few days with an average temperature drop of over 10C.
