In pictures: Crowds and colour return to Scotland as Covid winds down

The relaxing of Covid’s grip saw the country start on the road to normality but it was tempered by sadness at the passing of the Queen.

Laser beams and projections light up Edinburgh Castle during the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo in August (Jane Barlow/PA) (PA Wire)

There were highs and lows across Scotland in 2022 – a year that opened with the country still in the grip of Covid-19 but saw Scots bid farewell to Queen Elizabeth.

As the pandemic wound down, spectacular events like the Royal Military Tattoo in Edinburgh and Glasgow’s Trnsmt Festival brought joy and drew the crowds as they returned to the calendar.

But, later in the year, Scots respectfully lined the streets to pay tribute to the Queen after she passed away at her beloved Balmoral in Aberdeenshire.