‘Emmerdale’ star reacts to Harriet Finch’s death in huge storm

Katherine Dow Blyton has just found herself at the centre of an explosive exit, with her Emmerdale character Harriet Finch becoming the first fatality in the show's deadly storm.

The actor, who has starred in Emmerdale since 2013, revealed how she's dealing with her surprise exit from the soap.

“I got very emotional reading it," Dow Blyton says of the scripts. "On the actual day, I was covered in blood and I had various bits of woodland hanging out of my hair. We had these industrial wind machines which were literally blowing sand and debris into your eyes.

Read more: Emmerdale: Claire King teases Kim Tate twist in storm drama

"So when it came to it, it wasn’t as emotional because the technicality of what you have to do takes away from the emotion, so I managed to get through the day without sobbing."

The star adds that her exit may take a while to sink in. "I don’t think it will hit me that I’m not going back for a couple of weeks because it feels like I’m on a break, but it will slowly hit me.”

Amid her search for missing Amelia Spencer (Daisy Campbell), Harriet’s fate was sealed when lightning struck after a terrifying fall left her trapped and injured in the woods.

Love rival Kim Tate (Claire King) managed to free Harriet from underneath the quad bike; but the weather intervened, knocking Kim out, and it was too late to save the vicar-turned-police officer.

A distraught Kim made it back to Home Farm to break the news to husband Will Taylor (Dean Andrews) and family.

Watch: Coming up on Emmerdale...

Will had been having doubts over marrying Kim thanks to his bond with Harriet; and he and daughter Dawn Fletcher (Olivia Bromley) were heartbroken over their loss. Meanwhile, Harriet's partner Dan Spencer (Liam Fox) was devastated to find her lifeless body.

Read more: Emmerdale: Daisy Campbell opens up about Amelia's labour ordeal during terrifying storm

So the repercussions are already being felt in the village.

Harriet made her mark as a strong community figure; yet found herself facing many a moral dilemma. In 2018, she learned that Moira Dingle (Natalie J Robb), killed the evil Emma Barton (Gillian Kearney), and ultimately agreed to keep this a secret.

Two years later, Harriet helped Dawn cover up the murder of dodgy DI Malone (Mark Womack). The drama saw some of Dow Blyton’s most powerful Emmerdale performances as Harriet struggled to cope with what she had done.

Read more: Is Emmerdale the deadliest soap on TV?

Speaking about her time on the show, the actor reveals that this storyline was one of her most memorable. “Having an affair with Cain was stand-out; and being involved in all the Malone storyline was a tricky one to do but enjoyable in a weird way.

"Working with Olivia Bromley has been an absolute joy. She’s one of the nicest, sweetest people. The highlights are with the people I’ve worked with.”

Harriet may be gone, but this certainly isn’t the end of the drama, as the storm rages on.

Another village favourite, Sam Dingle (James Hooton) has been left impaled on a spike as he tried to escape a cow stampede. Will he be the next to perish?

Keep watching this week’s Emmerdale at 7.30pm on ITV to find out what happens next.