Fans of the ITV soap think they may know who find themselves trapped below an icy lake

Emmerdale fans are desperately trying to work out who will find themselves trapped below an icy lake in upcoming scenes and despite their first thoughts, they don’t think it will be Leyla Cavanagh.

As temperatures plunge and ice takes hold across Britain, the production team behind the popular ITV soap has unveiled a dramatic preview of what’s to come this February, promising a treacherous start to the year for some of the village’s beloved characters.

The gripping storyline features a terrifying car crash and a frozen lake, with multiple lives hanging in the balance. In a haunting flash-forward sequence, released over new year, Emmerdale viewers glimpsed a desperate hand breaking through the icy gloom of the frozen water, grasping for survival.

The question on everyone’s lips: whose hand is it, and will they survive? When the flashforward first aired, Emmerdale fans were quick to think it was Leyla trapped after actress Roxy Shahidi’s exit from the soap was rumoured earlier in 2024.

@bainbridge_leah said: “Am sure thats leyla in the water.” @aaronsharp123 commented: “I think Leyla is in that water then she dies.” @DylanDylan1909 wrote: “The hand at the end I think is Leyla.” @heylts_B posted: “Leyla the one in the ice? #Emmerdale.”

But with the release of new photos confirming the car crash stunt and another look at the hand desperately showing a fight for survival, some Emmerdale fans have changed their mind.

@lucy_mears6 said: “It’s got a wedding band on, Layla isn’t married!” @clar.amanda commented: “I think it’s ruby’s dad that’s in the ice with Caleb driving and he is the one that gets pulled out

But @hx3trapped shared: “When I look at the hand, it looks male. I’m guessing Caleb. So maybe he is in a car with Ruby and Layla?!?!” @donnsarama typed: “That’s Caleb’s little hand.” @fiona.brown.129142 added: “The flash forward showed Caleb dies in hospital. So it could be him in the water.”

It comes after Caleb was seen during the five flashforwards aired to mark New Year’s Eve in the Dales. At the time, the character was seen being ventilated in a hospital bed with the heart rate monitor flatlining. Just after, his half-brother Cain Dingle was seen standing by an unknown grave in tears, closely followed by a shot of someone kicking a body bag into the water.