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Your most-read stories of 2024

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

This is the top 20 for 2024, with the ranking based on the number of page views.

1. Death of Alex Salmond

PA Media Alex Salmond is sitting looking to the left of camera. He is wearing a dark blue suit, light blue shirt and dark blue tie. He is smiling. There is a saltire in the background.PA Media
Former First Minister Alex Salmond died in October

The most-read story of the year came in October when Alex Salmond died suddenly in North Macedonia.

The former first minister was attending a conference when he took ill.

Salmond led the country between 2007 and 2014 and had created the Alba Party since leaving the SNP.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer led the tributes, describing him as a "monumental figure of Scottish and UK politics".

2. Humza Yousaf resigns

PA Media Humza Yousaf is sitting at a bare, pale blonde wooden table in his former office in Holyrood. He is about to sign a paper. He is dressed in a blue suit, blue shirt, blue tartan tie. There is a furled saltire on the left. Family photos can be seen in the background.PA Media
Humza Yousaf was first minister for 13 months

Humza Yousaf quit as first minister in April after days of intense pressure following his decision to collapse a power-sharing agreement with the Scottish Greens.

He resigned after just 13 months in the role, admitting he had "clearly underestimated" the hurt he had caused the SNP's former governing partners.

Mr Yousaf was the first person of colour to be elected first minister and the first Muslim to lead a western government.

Eight months later he announced he would be standing down as an MSP in 2026.

3. Death of Jenny Hastings

SNS Jenny Hastings is standing in a street of harled brown houses. She is smiling broadly, holding her arms in the air triumphantly. She is wearing a blue on white '100 streets' T-shirt.SNS
Jenny Hastings had campaigned for mental health awareness

The body of Jenny Hastings, the wife of former Scotland rugby international Scott Hastings, was found after a four day search in September.

Mrs Hastings had disappeared while wild swimming at Wardie Bay in the Firth of Forth, off Edinburgh. Her body was found upriver near South Queensferry.

According to her family, Mrs Hastings had "struggled with her mental health for a number of years".

4. Storm Ashley hits Scotland

Getty Images A train is on a track right by a sea wall. Water is being pushed upwards and over train carriages. The water has struck the overhead wires causing them to spark dramatically. Getty Images
The Clyde coast train line was among the affected services

October brought the first storm of the season, with Ashley hitting the UK.

Warnings covered much of Scotland and there was heavy disruption of public transport with ferries, flights and trains all affected.

5. The marathon woman

David Miller Jasmin Paris is slumped on the ground at the finish line. Her head is bowed and she is clearly very tired. She is wearing outdoor runing gear.David Miller
Jasmin Paris completed the challenge with seconds to spare

Midlothian runner Jasmin Paris became the first woman to complete one of the world's toughest races.

The Barkley Marathons is a 100 mile (160km) race in Tennessee, which has to be completed within 60 hours.

Jasmin crossed the finishing line with 99 seconds to spare in March.

She said she wanted to test the limits of what she was capable of and inspire others.

6. Peter Murrell charged

Getty Images Nicola Sturgeon in a buttoned yellow coat is smiling outside a polling office. Peter Murrell is to her right, wearing a dark blue buttoned coat and a bright yellow scarf. They are smiling at the camera.Getty Images
Nicola Sturgeon and Peter Murrell have been married since 2010

The former SNP chief executive and husband of Nicola Sturgeon, Peter Murrell, was charged with embezzlement in April.

He was previously arrested as a suspect on 5 April 2023 before being released without charge.

The charges came after further questioning by officers investigating the funding and finances of the party as part of Operation Branchform.

7. Glen Coe deaths

Police Scotland Richie Parry and his father Tom in side by side photos. These are close up snaps of their faces with no background. Richie is wearing a blue top and his father a purple one.Police Scotland
Richie and Tom Parry were experienced hillwalkers

The bodies of a missing father and son from Cheshire were found in Glen Coe in May.

Tom Parry, 49, and his 12-year-old son Richie had been missing in the area after climbing Ben Nevis.

About 45 mountain rescue volunteers were involved in the search.

Glencoe Mountain Rescue Team said they were "saddened" by the find and expressed their condolences to the Parry family.

8. Teen cancer discovery

Molly Cuddihy Molly Cuddihy is smiling in close up, with red beads round her neck and a white blouse. Gary Barlow in black jacket and white T-shirt is standing beside her with his right arm around her.Molly Cuddihy
Molly met Take That star Gary Barlow in 2019 at a Teenage Cancer Trust concert in London

In April, Gourock schoolgirl Molly Cuddihy described how she learned she had cancer when the radiographer carrying out her scan started crying.

"If that was not a tell-tale sign then I don't know what was," she said.

Molly, who was 15 at the time, was diagnosed with metastatic Ewing's sarcoma in January 2018.

She now has no active cancer cells.

9. Funniest Fringe joke

PA Media Mark Simmons on close up, smiling to camera. An Edinburgh Comedy Award banner can be seen behind him.PA Media
Mark Simmons has been a finalist in the joke competition a number of times

Comedian Mark Simmons was the winner of 2024's funniest joke at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

The winner is chosen by members of the public from a shortlist drawn up by judges.

The winning gag was: "I was going to sail around the globe in the world's smallest ship but I bottled it."

Simmons is a veteran in the competition, having come 9th, 6th and 2nd in previous years.

10. Social drinking shock

BBC/Daniel Taylor-Sweet Hazel Martin in close-up. She looks very serious, has long black hair and is wearing a white turtle neck jumper.BBC/Daniel Taylor-Sweet
Hazel Martin is a BBC journalist

BBC Scotland journalist Hazel Martin spoke out about being warned she could die if she did not stop drinking.

The 31-year-old considers herself a social drinker and was surprised to be told by doctors that has severe alcohol-related liver fibrosis.

Hazel said she felt lucky the problem had been identified early enough to do something about it and she has been able to change her lifestyle.

She was speaking up ahead of presenting a November edition of the programme Panorama.

11. Janey Godley's final illness

PA Media A mourner in dark clothing in close upholding a red rose and an order of service. We can only see the person's lower torso. The order of service names Janey Godley beside a photo of the comic wearing a large pair of round sunglasses.PA Media
Janey Godley's funeral was held in Glasgow on 30 November

Comedian Janey Godley confirmed in late September that she was receiving end-of-life care for cancer.

The 63-year-old from Glasgow used social media to say said she was receiving palliative care in hospital and would be going into a hospice.

She thanked the NHS, friends and family for all the support she had received.

She died five weeks later on 2 November.

12. JK Rowling challenges police

PA Media JK Rowling in close up in front of a gold-coloured backdrop. She is smiling, her hair is up and she is wearing lage ear rings.PA Media
The Harry Potter author has been outspoken on freedom of speech

JK Rowling challenged the police in April to arrest her - if they believed she had broken new hate crime legislation.

The Harry Potter author, who lives in Edinburgh, had used social media to describe several transgender women as men.

Those she mentioned included convicted prisoners and trans activists.

She was protesting at the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021, which created a new crime of "stirring up hatred" relating to a number of protected categories.

13. Glenn Campbell's cancer diagnosis

Glenn Campbell in close-up, looking into the camera. He can be seen wearing a dark blue and grey striped scarf.
Glenn Campbell only learned he had a brain tumour after a bike accident

BBC Scotland political editor Glenn Campbell talked in January about the brain cancer diagnosis which he'd been given the previous summer.

A scan after a serious bike crash revealed Glenn had a rare tumour called an oligodendroglioma.

It is a kind which tends to respond better to treatment than many other types.

Glenn has spent the rest of the year campaigning to raise awareness of his illness and making a documentary about brain cancer.

14. Willy Wonka Experience

A person, gender unknown, is dressed as "The Unknown" in a black cloak with long black frizzy hair and a silver facemask. A young person in a white shirt with red hair has their back to us and appears to be confronting the Unknown.
"The Unknown" was not a character in the Roald Dahl book

In February, the world learned about the Willy Wonka Experience, an event in Glasgow which left angry parents demanding their money back.

It was advertised as a "journey filled with wondrous creations and enchanting surprises at every turn" but one visitor told BBC Scotland News that it was little more than "an abandoned, empty warehouse".

It was cancelled by organisers House of Illuminati following complaints.

Members of the cast later became media celebrities when they opted to talk about their experiences.

15. Woman died while using weight loss drug

A woman in close up. She has blonde hair, a grey T-shirt, dark rimmed glasses, and is smiling. A woman with black hair can be seen behind and to her right in the distance.
Susan McGowan was trying to lose weight using Mounjaro

It was reported in November that the death of a North Lanarkshire nurse had been linked to one of the newly-approved weight loss drugs used by the NHS.

Susan McGowan, 58, took two low-dose injections of tirzepatide, known under the brand name Mounjaro, over the course of about two weeks before her death on 4 September..

It is thought to be the first death officially linked to the drug in the UK.

16. Airbnb trashed by puppy seller

Tracey Parsons A bed with wooden frame and nice, pale, bedclothes with prints of deer and hedgehogs. There are three empty dog food cans lying on the bed.Tracey Parsons
The cottage was full of rubbish including empty dog food cans

An Airbnb owner was left horrified in January after discovering her Highlands property had been trashed by a puppy seller.

Tracey Parsons, 55, had rented out the cottage, near Inverness, to a woman for 10 days.

But a neighbour discovered the property overrun with 14 puppies and a dog and the house covered in faeces and discarded rubbish.

The woman who rented the cottage said she was not responsible for most of the damage and offered to pay for some of the cleaning.

17. Scotland's General Election

Reuters Anas Sarwar on left of screen in black suit, red tie, white shirt. Beside him is a young man in black suit, white shirt, red tie, with a Labour rosette. Sarwar is very happy looking. He appears to be looking at something in the distance. They are in an industrial-looking building.Reuters
Anas Sarwar was the big winner on the night in Scotland

July's General Election saw the SNP lose a total of 39 seats and Labour bounce back after almost a decade in the electoral doldrums.

First Minister John Swinney described the result, the SNP's worst since 2010, as "very, very difficult and damaging".

18. Edinburgh's hidden streets

An underground stone passageway, deep and of some age. There are modern ladders on the left and right of the room.
The street was found beneath the National Library of Scotland

A door deep in the bowels of the National Library of Scotland opens up a lost world of hidden streets deep below the capital city.

BBC Scotland gained access to the streets below George IV Bridge, which were built over in 1830.

The corridor – which has been named The Void by library staff – is not open to the public

It was discovered by library officials in the 1990s when they broke down a small hatch on a wall behind filing cabinets.

19. Modern slavery claims

Alamy A blue and white fishing boat called the Philomena. It is very rusty. It is in a dock with a large modern building behind.Alamy
The Philomena was one of the firm's fishing boats

A BBC Scotland investigation revealed in August how workers from around the world may have been trafficked into the UK to work for a Scottish fishing firm.

Thirty-five men were recognised as victims of modern slavery by the Home Office after being referred between 2012 and 2020.

The workers were employed by TN Trawlers and its sister companies, owned by the Nicholson family, based in Annan.

The TN Group denied any allegation of modern slavery or human trafficking and said its workers were well treated and well paid.

20. Cowgate bus death

The Cowgate at night. A police BMW 5 series estate is in the foreground with officers in the distance. The whole area has been taped off by police as a crime scene.
A large cordon was put in place in Edinburgh's Cowgate area

A 74-year old man died after being struck by a bus on Edinburgh's Cowgate on a busy Saturday night in November.

Footage and pictures which later circulated on social media suggested the man had suffered catastrophic injuries.

Police asked the public to stop sharing distressing photos and videos of the incident on social media.