Meteor photographed from Loch Ness

A meteor that may have caused phone calls to the Coastguard in Scotland and England was photographed from the shores of Loch Ness.

Tourist guide John Alasdair Macdonald captured his image on a compact camera near Dochfour at about 21:00 on Sunday.

The Maritime and Coastguard Agency got calls from people in the Highlands, Dumfries and Galloway and Cumbria concerned it was a distress flare.

Mr Macdonald described his images as a "fluke".

Mr Macdonald said: "I was taking some new pictures to put on my Facebook page using a Sony RX100 compact camera.

"It was a beautiful, clear night and I got some nice pictures but capturing the meteor was a fluke. I will never take a picture like that again."

Mr Macdonald, who runs the business The Hebridean Explorer, said he had seen messages on social media of a meteor being seen elsewhere, including Sleat on Skye.

Meteor sightings were also said to have been made from North Uist, Oban and Mull.

A "meteorite" mistaken for a distress flare also sparked a lifeboat search operation off the English coast on Sunday.

Maryport Coastguard Rescue Team said it received numerous reports of a moving red object over the sea between Workington, Cumbria, and the Isle of Whithorn in Dumfries and Galloway.

Did you see the meteor? Send your pictures and videos to yourpics@bbc.co.uk or text them to 61124 (UK) or +44 7624 800 100 (international). Or you can upload here.

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