Fewer Scots head outdoors

More than two-fifths of people in Scotland visited the great outdoors at least once a week last year, new figures show.

Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) said 42 per cent of adults carried out recreational outdoor activities in 2012 – 4 per cent less than the year before.

Walking was the main activity people took part in (73 per cent), followed by family outings (8 per cent) and cycling and mountain biking (4 per cent).

While the proportion of adults getting outdoors has fallen slightly on 2011, SNH said there was no significant change between 2006 and 2012.

SNH spokesman Alan Mac­pherson said: “The wet spring and summer weather, even the recession might have discouraged people from getting out.”