A farmer is helping his newborn lambs survive the cold snap from Storm Emma and the Beast from the East by popping them into his oven - claiming ten minutes in there can save their life.

Ian O'Reilly, 49, from Rimington, Lancashire said that putting new born lambs in the Aga is a farming trick that's been passed down his family.

One adorable lamb, which was born in blizzard-like conditions on Thursday, was spotted half an hour later with ice sticking to its fur and desperately needed its core temperature warming up.

Ian O'Reilly with his daughter Isobel and a newly born lamb on his farm in Rimington, Lancashire

Nine-year-old Isobel loves helping her father look after newly born lambs on his farm, and puts them in the oven to warm up

Mr O'Reilly puts a lamb in the oven, one newborn arrived in blizzard-like conditions on Thursday, was spotted half an hour later with ice sticking to its fur

Ian O'Reilly with a new born lamb - many are being born in blizzard like conditions and need to be kept in the warm

Mr O'Reilly, who has been farming all his life, said: 'Using the Aga is my best-kept secret, my family have been doing it for years.

'I have had piglets, lambs all kinds of newborns on the bottom shelf.

'Ten minutes in there and their core temperatures are up and they can be brought out and reunited in the barn with their mothers.'

However, he warned that keeping the farm animal in the oven any longer may mean 'you will be needing the mint sauce with them.'

Mr O'Reilly is often helped by his nine-year-old daughter, Isobel, who loves to look after the lambs at Gazegill Farm, Rimington, Lancashire.

He said: 'Isobel loves looking after the lambs, she is great with them. She loves feeding them and cuddling up with them to keep them warm.'

Mr O'Reilly is in the middle of lambing season and said the sharp fall in temperature presents a real danger to his flock.

Mr O'Reilly is often helped by his nine-year-old daughter, Isobel, who loves to look after the lambs at the Lancashire Farm

A newly born lamb sits in the Aga to warm up from the icy conditions. Farmer Ian O'Reilly says using the oven is his 'best kept secret'

Roast lamb! One newborn sits on the bottom shelf of their owners Aga to warm up from the thawing ice outside

'You usually tell a lamb whose core temperature has dropped as they appear listless and weak,' he said.

'Once we warm them up they are able to eat and that sustains their increased body temperature.'

He said the biggest problem he faces in the current weather is not the volume of snow but the large drifts caused by the strong winds which have virtually cut his farm off.

Mr O'Reilly said keeping lambs using the cast-iron heat-storing cooker has been a regular practice on the farm since the 1940s.

Luckily the animals are kept separate from any cooking food, with animals restricted to the bottom shelf only.

Mr O'Reilly, who has been farming all his life, with his daughter Isobel. He said: 'Using the Aga is my best-kept secret, my family have been doing it for years'

Isobel O'Reilly with a newly born lamb on her family's farm in Rimington, Lancashire

Isobel, nine, pictured with a newly born lamb. Her father said: 'Isobel loves looking after the lambs, she is great with them. She loves feeding them and cuddling up with them to keep them warm.'

Mr O'Reilly said keeping lambs using the cast-iron heat-storing cooker has been a regular practice on the farm since the 1940s

Mr O'reilly said: 'You usually tell a lamb whose core temperature has dropped as they appear listless and weak'