Christmas dippers brave the cold at Portobello Beach

dailyrecord.co.uk:

More than 50 brave souls kicked off Christmas with a chilling dip.The annual plunge at Portobello Beach saw a horde of hardy swimmers taking on the freezing temperatures on the Firth of Forth.Many of the swimmers were colour coordinated, with matching red swimsuits complemented by red Santa hats and tinsel.The plunge brought together a core group form the Tidal Titties group, who have come to the east coast beach for years to awaken their senses for the festive celebrations later in the day.But other ad hoc swimmers have also turned up to see if they are tough enough to brave water temperatures in single digits.One witness said: "One witness said: “Between 8.30am and 9.45am there were at least 40 people who turned up.“Most of them never even bothered with wetsuits, which will probably be mind boggling for most Scots who’s have been happier settling in for a day in front of the telly and at the dinner table.“There was a real coordinated approach this year and some of them took the plunge with the Santa hats and bobble hats still on.“And there were a few red noses by the time they dragged themselves out of the water.”The Christmas swim tradition has also been repeated on various other beaches up and down the UK coastline.The dreich weather wasn’t pleasant for many Scots who had to weather the elements - but it did bring mild temperatures in the air and water.Organiser Gill Barrie said: "We started up around three years ago and we now have two pods of ladies swimming and quite a good social circle going."We decided to mix it up a bit this year with the red swimsuits and all the girls went out and bought one, so we got in to the festive spirit.