Your most-read stories of 2025

The BBC Scotland News website has looked back at our most-read stories of the year.

Here are the top 20 for 2025, with the ranking based on the number of page views.

In April, a UK Supreme Court marked the culmination of a long-running legal battle over the definition of a woman under equalities law.

Judges unanimously ruled that a woman is defined by biological sex, siding with campaign group For Women Scotland.

The group had brought a case against the Scottish government arguing that sex-based protections for women should only apply to those that are born female.

Judge Lord Hodge said the ruling should not be seen as a triumph of one side over the other, and stressed that the law still gives protection against discrimination to transgender people.

• Supreme Court backs 'biological' definition of woman

Four years ago Michelle and John Wylie got married at a boutique hotel on the South Ayrshire coast, surrounded by friends, loved ones - and one complete stranger.

Flash forward to September, after content creator Dazza joined the search to track down the wedding crasher, the mystery man was finally revealed.

Andrew Hillhouse, who was supposed to be a guest at another wedding two miles away, told the BBC he only realised he was at the wrong venue when the bride walked down the aisle.

Dazza's post put Andrew in touch with the bride Michelle. The pair are now Facebook friends and have since met in person to share a laugh about their unlikely connection.

• The wedding crasher mystery solved after four years

A BBC investigation found in March that victims had been conned out of millions of pounds in a whisky barrel investment scam.

Hundreds of people had been duped into ploughing their life savings and pensions into casks that were overpriced or did not exist.

The victims include one woman with terminal cancer who invested £76,000 and another woman who spent more than £100,000 on casks, which experts say were only ever worth a fraction of the price they paid.

At the time, the police said they were investigating three Scottish whisky companies over fraud allegations, with investments running into the millions.

• 'I have terminal cancer and lost my life savings to whisky barrel scammers'

In June, a Scottish wingsuit flyer died during a jump in the Swiss Alps.

British champion Liam Byrne, 24, was critically injured on the Gitschen mountain after taking off from 7,874ft (2,400m).

Mr Byrne, from Stonehaven, Aberdeenshire, was said to be a very experienced wingsuit flyer who had completed more than 4,000 jumps in his career.

A family statement described him as "fearless" and said skydiving and base jumping was where he "felt most alive".

• Scottish wingsuit flyer Liam Byrne dies during Swiss Alps jump

In July, a major security operation ramped up as Donald Trump teed off at Turnberry during his private visit to Scotland.

The US president went on to meet with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Scotland's First Minister John Swinney over his five-day stay in Scotland - and open a second 18-hole golf course at his estate in Aberdeenshire.

Hundreds of demonstrators gathered in Aberdeen and Edinburgh to protest against the visit.

• Security tightens as Donald Trump plays golf at Turnberry

In January, a major land, air and water search was launched in Aberdeen after two sisters went missing after a night out.

Henrietta and Eliza Huszti - both 32 and originally from Hungary - were last seen at Victoria Bridge at about two in the morning.

Their brother, Jozsef, told BBC News they appeared happy and cheerful before their disappearance.

Their bodies were found in the River Dee three weeks later, near where they were last seen alive.

Police said the deaths were not suspicious and stated the single cause of death as drowning.

• Sisters seemed fine before going missing, says brother

In February, a British couple were found dead in their home in south west France.

Andrew and Dawn Searle, who previously lived in East Lothian, were discovered by their neighbour on 6 February in Les Pesquiès, about a hour north of Toulouse.

French officials investigating the deaths said in April it was murder followed by suicide.

Post-mortem examinations confirmed Mr Searle died from hanging and Mrs Searle, suffered "multiple blows to the head with a blunt and sharp-edged object".

• British couple named after deaths at French home

With airports across the UK raising raised drop-off fees, the BBC spoke to drivers parked in lay-bys along Edinburgh Airport's approach road in a bid to beat charges in the drop-off zone.

In Edinburgh, drivers face a £6 tariff for a 10-minute stay at a specific drop-off and pick-up zone metres from the main terminal building.

Close to the Moxy, next to a farm gate by a grass verge, Caroline O'Brien, 52, was waiting in a lay-by for her husband and children after they returned from a holiday to Paris.

She said she had previously been charged £24 for under 30 minutes in the drop-off zone and decided not to take any chances this time.

• Parked in lay-bys - the drivers determined to avoid airport drop-off fees

In November, half a dozen women shared their distressing, and often bizarre, experiences with one of Scotland's most prolific romance fraudsters in the new BBC Disclosure podcast: Matched with a Predator.

One of those women is Nadia who matched on Tinder with Christopher Harkins over seven years ago.

She said she was subjected to death threads and abuse that destroyed her mental health for years after spending just 20 minutes in his company.

Several women told the BBC they reported physical assaults and sexual misconduct in the years before the police investigation.

Harkins was jailed last year, almost five years after he was first arrested. He was convicted on the evidence of 10 women.

• A 20-minute date with a Tinder predator destroyed my life for years

A two-part BBC Scotland documentary broadcast in May sought to investigate the rise and fall of Michelle Mone.

Baroness Mone of Mayfair spent 25 years building her business empire and public profile through the British media as her Ultimo bra concept hit some of the high street's biggest shops.

The story she told time and time again brought her fame, riches, and even a peerage.

But she has now been stripped of the Conservative whip and is on leave from the House of Lords.

Since the programme was broadcast, a company linked to Mone and her husband Doug Barrowman has been ordered to pay £122m in damages after a judge ruled it breached a government contract for the supply of personal protective equipment (PPE) during the Covid pandemic.

• A self-created fairy story: The rise and fall of Michelle Mone

The Prince and Princess of Wales marked their 14th wedding anniversary in April with a visit to the Isle of Mull.

William and Catherine toured the island over two days, visiting community halls that their Royal Foundation is helping to refurbish.

A photo was posted on the couple's royal social media account with the message: "Wonderful to be back on the Isle of Mull. Thank you to everyone for such a warm welcome."

• William and Kate visit Mull to celebrate wedding anniversary

Eighty years after a mother walked into a London estate agency and bought a Hebridean island she had never seen, her family announced in June they were selling their historic home.

Shuna, which includes a now-ruined castle, working farm and a holiday accommodation business, was put on the market for £5.5m.

Jim Gully, who was the second generation of the family brought up on the island, said its white sand beaches and rocky coves gave them an "idyllic" childhood.

The island was marketed by UK Sotheby's International Realty and Knight Frank.

The estate agents suggested the property was "perfectly suited" to multi-generational living, a boutique hospitality venture or a "wellness destination".

• Family selling 'idyllic' island with ruined castle after 80 years

On 4 June the body of a Scottish man, who had been reported missing in Portugal, was found.

Greg Monks, 39, from Cambuslang, disappeared after leaving friends on the main strip area in Albufeira in the early hours of 28 May while on a stag party.

His sisters described him as an "amazing boy" who would "be missed every day".

• Family 'devastated' after body found in search for missing Scot

Former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and ex-SNP chief executive Peter Murrell announced in January they had "decided to end" their marriage.

In a social media post, Sturgeon said the pair had been separated for "some time".

• Nicola Sturgeon and Peter Murrell to end marriage

August marked three years since Chris Strong lost his wife, brother-in-law and mother-in-law in a crash on the notorious A9.

His wife Katie and her family had travelled from the US to the Highlands to visit locations from their favourite TV show, Outlander.

Chris, who lives in Chicago with the couple's three daughters, told BBC Alba's Eòrpa programme of the painful lasting impacts of the deaths.

He said his wife Katie was "the glue that held all the great elements of our families together".

• Lives torn apart by fatal crashes on Scotland's longest road

Olly Murs walked off stage in May after struggling with his voice.

The singer left the 14,000-capacity OVO Hydro venue after about 20 minutes, just six songs into his set list.

The 40-year-old offered fans an apology "from the bottom of my heart" in a social media video after the concert.

• Olly Murs pulls plug on Glasgow show in stage walk-off

In January, four lynx were illegally released and captured shortly after near Kingussie in the Highlands.

The wild cats were humanely caught in pairs and taken to the Highland Wildlife Park.

But the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland confirmed one of the animals had died, while all four showed signs of starvation.

• Lynx dies after being captured in Cairngorms

A BBC investigation published in September revealed a series of failures at one of Scotland's largest care homes.

BBC Disclosure reporter Catriona MacPhee took up a role as a cleaner and worked undercover for seven weeks in Castlehill Care Home in Inverness.

She spoke about how she saw vulnerable elderly people left sitting alone for hours in urine-soaked clothes or lying in wet bedsheets, often calling out for help.

Several months later the Care Inspectorate said the care home had made progress and improvements.

• I went undercover as a cleaner at a failing care home. Here's what I witnessed

January saw seven members of one of Scotland's biggest child sex abuse rings be given life-long sentences and warned they may never be released.

Three victims under the age of 13 were subjected to horrific sexual abuse and violence in a Glasgow drug den dubbed "the beastie house" over a seven-year period.

Police said the children had suffered "unimaginable abuse", with the offences including rape, attempted murder and assault.

All seven were jailed for between eight and 20 years and handed orders for lifelong restrictions, meaning they will either be in prison or on parole for the rest of their lives.

• Glasgow child sex abuse gang given life sentences

An underwater camera set up 55 years ago to try to photograph the Loch Ness Monster was found by accident by a robot submarine in March.

The ocean-going yellow sub - called Boaty McBoatface - was being put through trials when its propeller snagged the mooring for the 1970s camera system.

Adrian Shine, of The Loch Ness Project - which has been researching the loch since the 1970s, helped to identify the camera that is believed to be one of six.

No footage of Nessie was found on the camera, but one of the submarine's engineers was able to develop a few images of the loch's murky waters.

• Camera set up to catch Loch Ness Monster discovered