27/12/2015 Reporting Scotland

A record number of people in Scotland used food banks over

the Christmas week, according to a charity which runs them.

The Trussell Trust estimates more than 7,000 people needed help

The Trust says it's a sharp increase on previous years.

Wee bit and better than people who used a foodbank in the last week in

Scotland. We are standing on the banks of the Clyde and we are

talking -- talking about double the capacity of the armadillo, that is a

lot of people who are experiencing financial pressure.

Around 300 extra paramedics are to be recruited across Scotland

The increase in staffing follows an ?11 million funding boost

for the Scottish Ambulance Service which comes into effect

The extra cash, announced in the latest budget,

will also support the recruitment of new clinical advisers

In addition it will be used to develop new care models for some

of the country's more remote communities.

Dog-owners in Scotland are being urged to get their animals

microchipped in the early part of the New Year.

A law comes into force in April which makes is compulsory

It's in an effort to make it easier to trace lost or stolen dogs

and hold irresponsible owners to account.

Six-month-old Stefanie has recently been microchipped. A tiny device

which has been inserted between her shoulder blades containing all her

information so she can be easily identified. From April annual makes

it mandatory for old dogs to be checked. Two thirds of dogs in this

country are microchipped and most people are responsible owners. It

will save a lot of heartache. There are few irresponsible dog owners out

there and the authorities will also be able to reunite dogs with these

owners and hold them to account. The Scottish government says there is

overwhelming public support for this scheme. With the Dogs Trust we have

partnered with various vets in the country and go along and had your

pet chipped for free. We have various events in which we insert

chips for three. Owners who do not meet the April deadline will be

given three weeks to comply and after that they could face if I of

?500. This dog was brought in as our street but she had not been chips

saw her owners could not be found. She will now be chipped so that in

the future her owners will be able to be found.

The Scottish Liberal Democrats say more than half a million working

days in the NHS have been lost to mental health problems

They've obtained figures which show that sick leave because of mental

illness rose from just over 86,000 days in 2011,

The party's health spokesman, Jim Hume, says he'd like to see

urgent mental health support put in place for NHS staff.

The Bay City Rollers will perform live at

BBC One Scotland's Hogmanay Live 2015 celebration.

The legendary 70s rockers, led by singer Les McKeown,

with band members Alan Longmuir and Stuart 'Woody' Wood,

will perform hits Shang-a-Lang and Bye Bye Baby.

The show will be streamed live for a worldwide audience online.

In rugby, Edinburgh won the first leg of the 1872 Cup against Glasgow

before a record crowd for the tie of more than 23,500 at Murrayfield.

Warrior's Mark Bennett's early try was cancelled out by scores

from Matt Scott and John Hardie with Sam Hidalgo-Clyne notching up

13 points from kicks for the hosts with Finn Russel kicking two

The final score Edinburgh 23, Glasgow 11.

The return match is at Scotstoun on Saturday.

Celtic have moved one point clear of Aberdeen at the top

of the Scottish Premiership after a 2-2 draw with Hearts at

Ronny Deila's men were leading 2-1 heading into the final moments

of the match - before Osman Sow levelled the scoring in stoppage

And there's more of all that on Sportscene tonight on BBC1

The Met Office has issued an amber "be prepared" weather warning

for heavy rain across central and southern Scotland for Wednesday.

It follows on from warnings over severe gale force winds

which are expected to hit the country later on Tuesday

The amber warning has been issued for Strathclyde,

Central, Tayside and Fife, and Dumfries, Galloway

But for more immediate weather for tonight and tomorrow here's

Thank you very much. Good evening. It was a lovely day across the

country. Tonight we shall seek a band of weak green crossing the

country. It clears as we had through the night. Strengthening

south-easterly winds which will be a future for the next couple of days.

Deals will develop in coastal areas. An early depth in temperatures as

well. The start of the week looks Wednesday, mainly dry and it will

remain mild. A bright start tomorrow morning. Quite breezy, gusty

south-easterly winds with coastal deals. Sunny spells across the

country. This band of rain appears in the West later in the day. That

is the potential for severe gales in the Western Isles. We rage of high

pressure for Tuesday and into the evening, a

the New Year. -- gusts. -- then rain overnight into Tuesday.

That's it for now, we'll be back just after the ten o'clock news.