• For those arriving to this page after 12pm on April 1st 2017, this story was an April Fool, as we explain here

Anybody venturing to Scotland normally has only the midges to avoid. Now there’s an altogether more terrifying, not so wee beastie lurking in the woods.

For scientists with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) have discovered a polar bear living on an island in the Outer Hebrides.

The images and video footage were captured by a dog walker on North Uist. Its authenticity has been verified by the WWF.

Scientists believe the bear may have been forced to head south after finding itself stranded on a melting sheet of ice that broke away from the Arctic ice cap.

Data tracking suggests more polar bears are likely to follow the same route in coming months and years as the ice cap continues to diminish.