Shetland

People take part in the Pride Glasgow festival in June last year (Picture: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

Summer of Pride is about protest, visibility and community – Vic Valentine

Ancient ceremonial locations or time travelling sites? Here are the Scottish standing stones that inspired Outlander's Craigh na Dun set.

13 Scottish stone circles and standing stones that inspired Outlander's set

England's Fens are extraordinarily flat (Picture: Oli Scarff/Getty Images)

A 'bleak' landscape is one that's full of promise – Philip Lymbery

Here’s everything you need to know about Badminton Horse Trials today

Badminton Horse Trials - everything you need know today

Martin Compston and Phil MacHugh will be reunited for the new show Northern Fling.

Martin Compston reunites with Phil MacHugh for Norway travel show

Last year, we celebrated the 250th anniversary of Robert Stevenson, the man credited with designing the majority of Scotland's lighthouses.

19 Beautiful Scottish Lighthouses built by the famous Robert Stevenson

Alison O'Donnell and Ashley Jensen on the set of the new series of Shetland. Picture: Mark Mainz

Shetland: First look at Ashley Jensen on set as new cast members are revealed

In some local authoritiy areas, as many as four in five rental properties received an EPC rating of D or lower. Picture: Steve Parsons/PA Wire

Over half of rented properties set to flout new energy efficiency rules

Image issued by Nick McCaffrey of a still from footage of a pilot whale expelling its placenta off the coast of Shetland in 2019.

Unique footage of pilot whale expelling placenta captured off Shetland

Scotland’s booming space sector has grown by almost £40 million, helping kick off new companies and create jobs

Scotland's space industry grows by £40m

Aurora Borealis, also known as the Northern Lights, putting a show on dancing over Loch Glascarnoch, by Garve, in the Highlands

Northern Lights set to dazzle Scotland again

If you live in one of these 10 areas of Scotland, you'll be paying less for a Band D property's council tax than in the rest of the country.

The 10 least expensive Band D council tax rates in Scotland

The Met Office have issued a further weather warning for Tuesday across Scotland

Further snow warnings issued for Scotland - watch latest forecast

Crime writer Denise Mina.

Denise Mina's Alex Morrow books to become new Scottish TV detective drama

The Met Office has issued a yellow weather warning for snow and ice for Monday and Tuesday with some disruption expected. PIC: SWNS.com

Coldest temperature of year expected as snow and ice forecast for Scotland

The earthquake was felt in Ebbw Vale, South Wales. Picture: GEOFF CADDICK/AFP via Getty Images

Earthquake hits Wales with a magnitude of 3.7

Comedian Frankie Boyle and climate campaigner Vanessa Nakate have urged the Prime Minister to throw out plans to develop a new oil and gas field in the North Sea.

Frankie Boyle calls on PM to reject plans for Rosebank oil field

The scale of poverty and health inequalities is not inevitable (Picture: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

Child poverty is getting worse, but it doesn't have to be like this

Shetland pianist Amy Laurenson has been crowned Scotland’s best young traditional musician. Picture: Alan Peebles

Shetland pianist Amy Laurenson crowned Scotland’s best young trad musician

The Jarl Squad set light to the galley in Lerwick on the Shetland Isles during the Up Helly Aa fire festival. Originating in the 1880s, the festival celebrates Shetland's Norse heritage. Jane Barlow/PA Wire

11 pictures as thousands gather at Up Helly Aa fire festival in Shetland

Up Helly Aa takes place on the last Tuesday of January.

Up Helly Aa: How the Viking festival began in Scotland

Pic: AndrewJSherer/Getty

Up Helly Aa prepares for their first gender inclusive Lerwick fire festival

Computer generated image (CGI) issued by SaxaVord UK spaceport of a rocket taking off from Lamba Ness in Unst. The UK's first orbital rocket launch could blast off from the Shetland islands in October or November this year, spaceport bosses have said. SaxaVord spaceport, on the northern tip of the Shetland Islands, is preparing to host the first vertical launch of satellites from UK soil.

First orbital rocket launch from Scotland could blast off in October

Gravitis space port first commercial rocket launch
Historic first for UK as commercial rocket launch takes place in Outer Hebrides

A historic UK first has taken place in the Outer Hebrides today (Thursday) with a unique commercial rocket launch conducted by a wholly-owned British company and a Scottish spaceport team.

Spaceport 1 joined forces with East Anglian firm Gravitilab Aerospace Services on the launch of flight test vehicle 'ADA', named after Ada Lovelace, the 19th century English mathematician who is considered the world's first computer programmer.

ADA took off from Benbecula Airport marking a successful launch for Spaceport 1, the consortium led by Comhairle nan Eilean Siar (Western Isles Council), which aims to open at Scolpaig, North Uist, in 2022. From this base, commercial sub-orbital space launches will begin to take place from within the UK.

The landmark moment represents the first success for this unique commercial partnership between Spaceport 1 and Gravitilab, providing proper physical evidence of how companies can work together commercially under the new Government space framework to deliver a successful rocket launch from the UK.

It is a significant step in the history of Gravitilab, which aims to make space more accessible by providing reliable and affordable microgravity research and testing services. ADA is the company's first rocket designed to offer this, and the sub-orbital launch at Benbecula Airport is part of the company's ongoing development programme.

It also comes just weeks after the Government's new framework to regulate the space industry came into force. This framework has the potential to thrust Scotland and the UK into the global forefront of the growing space sector making spaceport developments and space launches a reality.

For Spaceport 1, this offers the opportunity to become a working, viable commercial spaceport, as it looks to complete its site by 2022, with full commercial operations commencing in the same year

'Game-changing' £100m deal for islands is signed

A vessel arriving in Lerwick, Shetland to deliver turbine components for the Viking Wind Farm.

Peterson wins work for Shetland wind farm that can power half a million homes

Terry Hall singing with The Specials, Usher Hall, Edinburgh, 2021.

Mum's the Word - Remembering a Specials birthday

Oil gushes from the stricken Liberian-registered Braer tanker after it ran aground at Garths Ness on the Shetland Islands on January 5, 1992. (Photo by GERRY PENNY/AFP via Getty Images)

Why the Braer spill 30 years ago reminds us that our future cannot not be in oil

A CalMac ferry sails near Jura in the Inner Hebrides (Picture: Allan Wright/Scottish Viewpoint/Shutterstock)

Late CalMac summer timetable is yet another unacceptable blow to islanders

Snow covers the cars and roads in a residential area of Glasgow. Snow and ice have swept across parts of the UK, with cold wintry conditions set to continue for days. Picture date: Friday December 16, 2022.

In pictures: Snow brings travel disruption with more forecast across Scotland

Snowfall in the Shetland Islands has caused problems, with frozen slush weighing down power lines.

Shetland author's lost laptop with draft of next novel found in snow

An amber and yellow warning are in place across Scotland

Amber warning in place for parts of Scotland with snow warning issued

Broken poles in Semblister, Shetland. Picture: SSEN Distribution/PA Wire

Engineers warn some in Shetland could be without power into weekend

Handout photo from Shetland Islands Council (SIC) of a fence in Burravoe, near Brae in the North Mainland of Shetland.

Shetland to face fourth day without power amid more snow

The cold snap has affected a number of areas across the UK.

'Concerns for vulnerable people' after second night without power

Scotland has been hit with some severe winter weather

Shetland homes without power as temperature of minus 17 recorded in Braemar

An aerial view of Brough Lodge and the surrounding buildings on Fetlar, Shetland. PIC: Contributed.

Philanthropist sought to create £12m retreat on Scottish island

Work has begun on a cutting-edge vertical-launch spaceport in Shetland, with the first rockets due to lift off next year

Countdown to rocket launch begins as Shetland spaceport takes shape

Ashley Jensen will take on the new lead role in Shetland when the series returns next year.

Shetland: Ashley Jensen to take over lead role in hit BBC crime drama

Mark Boyd on his way to winning the Men's Open division at the 2022 Gathering of the Clans PIC: Malsurf

Surfing in Shetland: How it all began with a late-night walk home from the pub

Nicola Sturgeon speaks to members of the media at the finish line of the Running Out Of Time climate relay. Picture: AP Photo/Thomas Hartwell

Sturgeon accused of dodging question from activist on Rosebank oil field

The Scots Trad Music Awards will be returning to the Caird Hall in Dundee next month.

Contenders revealed for 20th Scots Trad Music Awards

Stromness in Orkney. More powers are needed in the Northern Isles to allow for better governance and better delivery of services, writes Alistair Carmichael MP.

Orkney and Shetland want more powers of their own, not SNP identity politics

“The need is great, the need is now and we are going to be the people stepping up.”

Ad Feature Decarbonising 1m homes to tackle fuel poverty and climate change

Skeklers on Shetland in 1909. PIC: Courtesy of Shetland Museum and Archives.

The 'intriguing and unsettling' Scottish island tradition of skekling

Residents have been left without phone and internet since the early hours of Thursday due to the break in the cable connecting Shetland to mainland Scotland.

BT give update after residents on Shetland communications outage

Communications to Shetland have been completely shut down after a subsea cable was damaged.

Damaged subsea cable leaves Shetland cut off from mainland

Fraserburgh is the fourth biggest port in Scotland

Value of fish landings soars at Fraserburgh

The close confinement of chickens can create the perfect breeding ground for new types of diseases to emerge (Picture: Jamie McDonald/Getty Images)

Wild birds are paying a deadly price for cheap chicken. And we could be next

Douglas Henshall as Det Ins Jimmy Perez, whose team catches killers in Shetland

Douglas Henshall tells BBC 'don't make a mess' of Shetland

Paul Hourston, who uses the name Doric Dad on social media, has been named Scots Media Person of the Year in the Scots Language Awards.

'Doric Dad' social media star among those honoured at Scots Language Awards

Fishermen in Shetland are starring in a new television commercial for the Marine Stewardship Council, which runs an ecolabelling scheme to help consumers choose sustainable fish and seafood. Picture: David Loftus

When the boat comes in: Shetland fishermen on the big screen

The strategy's focus is 'attracting and developing new talent and the provision of high-quality training across Britain' (file image). Picture: Leon Neal/Getty Images.

Wheels start turning on strategy to accelerate engineering construction workforc...

Soulfully as ever, Jimmy Perez ponders his final move

Shetland fans hoping Jimmy Perez finds love at last get their wish

Scotland has launched a pioneering sustainability roadmap for the country's growing space sector, the first of its kind in the world, as the country aims to to minimise the environmental impacts of rocket launches and satellite tech

Scotland launches mission to achieve greenest space industry in the universe

Stromness village in the Orkney islands - one of the places city dwellers are flocking to
Photo: Getty Images

People moving to the countryside sees decline in Scottish city populations

Using ferries to link nearby islands is an outdated approach to transport (Picture: Andy Buchanan/AFP via Getty Images)

Shetland is crying out for tunnels to connect island communities

The Scotsman Top Stories

The United Nations says both the Scottish and UK governments need to improve children's human rights. Image: Michael M Santiago/Getty Images.

UN says Scottish, UK governments need to improve children's human rights

The damage done by a wild fire at Tentsmuir (Pic: Forestry and Land Scotland)

Ranger assaulted for asking someone to put out campfire

Circular Economy Minister Lorna Slater

Lorna Slater's private Rum ferry cost taxpayers £1,200