Farmers and hauliers are being reminded by the North’s Department of Agriculture (DARD) to take extra care to protect any livestock when transporting them during warm weather.

With the recent warm weather across the country, it says that exposure to high temperatures and humidity is a major threat to animal welfare during transport.

This poses a serious risk during the summer months, DARD says.

Failure to take account of high temperatures when planning journeys and a lack of adequate contingency plans can cause suffering to animals, it says.

Here are 11 tips to avoid unnecessary suffering of animals during transportation when the weather is warm:

DARD says that contingency plans should be in place for every journey, and are particularly important in hot conditions as delays, which might be relatively insignificant under normal conditions, can become critical very quickly.

Drivers should be able to recognise signs of heat stress and take appropriate action, it says.