Historic coastal sites at risk

However, the charity Scottish Coastal Archaeology and the Problem of Erosion (Scape) warns that many of these sites are under threat.

The risks are posed by natural coastal erosion, but also from climate change.

Here are some of Scotland's threatened sites:

CHURCHILL BARRIERS

Breakers crash against a section of the Churchill Barriers on the Orkney islands.

The barriers were built during WWII by Italian prisoners of war to block off the eastern approaches to Scapa Flow, at the time a key naval base.

NOOSTS

Traditional boats lie on noosts - places where they can be left safely - on the Fair Isle in Shetland.

They are considered by the Scottish Coastal Archaeology and the Problem of Erosion to be a typical site at risk.

WHALING STATION

An old whaling station on Harris in the Outer Hebrides makes a stark image under a scuffing of winter snow.

Whaling was once important to Scottish island and coastal communities, but ruins such as these are all that remains.

CULROSS

The remains of a fish trap pokes above the mud at Culross in Fife.

Fish traps are a common sight around the coast, however many have been made from wooden elements which have rapidly decayed.

ABERLADY

What look like the skeletal remains of sea monsters stick up on the foreshore at Aberlady in East Lothian.

This collection of hulks are the rotting remains of abandoned boats - a scene on many shores up and down the coast.