Around 180 sheep were killed after slipping off a steep Alpine cliff edge, said German authorities – linking the deaths to the heatwave gripping much of Europe.

An official in Germany ’s southern state of Bavaria said the accident happened on Sunday when around 300 sheep struggled on a trail with soil completely dried out in the recent hot weather.

Local official Peter Reindl told the dpa news agency that the majority of the animals lost their footing on the cracked mountain pass and fell 325 ft to their deaths.

He said about 450 sheep are usually put to pasture in the mountains in the summertime and occasionally one falls off the edge, but the loss of so many at once was unprecedented.