Aberdeen is Scotland's sun city

Aberdeen is Scotland's sunniest city

Aberdeen has been named the sunniest city in Scotland after basking in 1,454 hours of sunshine in 2004.

The Met Office confirmed that the granite city received 7% more than the average level of sunshine in Scotland.

Met Office spokesman Wayne Elliott said: "The sunniest place will tend to be on the east coast because of the high ground."

Edinburgh and Glasgow lagged behind Aberdeen, each recording about 1,200 hours of sunshine.

Mr Elliott said the Moray Firth was the warmest and sunniest part of Scotland due to its location on higher ground.

'Great for tourism'

The west coast tends to be cloudier but warmer.

Iain Hainey, spokesman for Aberdeen and Grampian Tourist Board, said: "Results like this are great for tourism.

"Some people are of the misconception that Aberdeen is a dull place but this goes to show that even though it is not the warmest it is definitely the sunniest and it is drier than other places.

"The sunshine levels also mean it is less cloudy, and it is important that we get that message out."

Dundee claim

However, a Met Office spokeswoman quoted by the Evening Telegraph said that over the long-term Dundee remained the sunniest of Scotland¿s cities.

She said the official level of sunshine for Dundee, which is measured at Leuchars, remained higher than at Dyce, where figures are collated for Aberdeen.

¿Leuchars is still higher than Dyce in terms of sunshine but they obviously picked up on the fact Leuchars isn¿t a city and used it to help themselves," she went on.

"In the long-term Dundee remains sunnier than Aberdeen.¿