A picture that illustrates how dry Edinburgh weather is compared to the west coast has gone viral on Twitter.
The detailed image of Scotland shows where the most rain falls through 3D imaging, conveying the wettest areas as peaks. While most of Scotland - particularly the west coast- is covered in piles of constant rain, Edinburgh is remarkably flat.
The image has been shared over a thousand times after being posted on Twitter by Edinburgh-based writer Laura McConnell with the caption: "I post this image a lot on Twitter in response to people talking about Scottish weather.
"It’s probably one of my favourite images. It is an annual rainfall map (higher the peak, higher the rainfall). I’m so glad that Edinburgh is in the flat!"
The spectacular image originally was created by Alasdair Rae, founder of Automatic Knowledge Ltd, a UK-based data, analysis, mapping, and insights company who create data-based images.
Alasdair created the 3D representation of rainfall based on the annual rainfall data published in 2017 by the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology.
The data is based on 1km gridded estimates of monthly rainfall and the higher the peaks on the map, the more rain fell in that area.
People took to Twitter to show their amazement at the 3D map, with one person commenting: "I'm from Norwich, now live in Glasgow - before leaving the house I used to think "do I need an umbrella today", now it's very much "can I risk not having something rainproof with me" (spoiler: most likely not!)"
Another wrote: "I'm from Glasgow, and thought it was normal for it to rain every day of life. Then I moved to Dundee age 19 and was gobsmacked that I didn't need to use my umbrella for months! Life changing!"
"What a fabulous map. I live in the East now and don't miss the rain I used to have to endure. Now visit the west whenever the forecast is good, so see it at its best now," said another.
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Writer Laura McConnell responded: "Honestly, I’m from Glasgow and felt like I was deprogrammed from a cult that was ruled by rain when I moved here!"
