'Sunniest October' for north of Scotland

Image caption Sunshine in Ullapool on the west coast of Scotland on 1 October

Early weather statistics suggest the north of Scotland has had the sunniest and one of the driest Octobers since records began, the Met Office has said.

This part of the country had 106 hours of sunshine, beating the previous record of 102 hours set in 1939.

Scotland as a whole will have had one of its "top five" sunniest Octobers on record with 93.7 hours, the Met Office said.

Scotland's sunniest October on record so far was in 2003 with 106.4 hours.

Image caption The start of another fine day in the Highlands in October

Image caption Rainfall was a rare thing for Inverness and other parts of north Scotland in October, according to the Met Office

The early statistics cover from 1-27 October and the Met Office's records go back to 1929.

Forecasters said high pressure dominated much of the weather for the UK during October meaning many areas have been "notably dry", the exception being the east coast of Scotland, including Aberdeenshire, where rainfall was closer to normal.

The western side of Scotland had a third or less of its average October rainfall.