ANCIENT cultures heralded its arrival with fire and blood, bonfires and human sacrifice.
Today, people in Greenland break weeks of polar darkness by singing as it emerges above the horizon.
READ MORE: Watch - the best golf tantrums of all time
But in Scotland, that most treasured and rare of occurences, the appearance of the sun, is greeted with the immortal cry of Taps Aff!
It's understandable. You live in Scotland, it rains most of the time, but that just makes it that much sweeter when good weather deigns to make an appearance.
Yassssss pic.twitter.com/BLJ0Z6zNh4
— Being Scottish (@BeingScots) July 19, 2016
People therefore generally don't let minor details such as beer bellies, bingo wings or a sense of public decency stand in the way of allowing electromagnetic radiation from a fiery ball of gas millions of kilometres away to lightly broil their pallid flesh.
The end result? The meek of heart may struggle.
Been on union street for 5 mins and already witnessed far too much half naked bodies #tapsaff
— Fiona (@Fiona_Neilson) July 19, 2016
This may be a slight exaggeration to what the sun is bearing witness to today. But not by much.
#tapsaff ☀️😎 pic.twitter.com/l07QHulflE
— Samantha Lumsden (@samlumsden89) July 19, 2016
We agree. We'll go out on a limb and say this is the best photo of an elderly man with a naked torso you'll see this week.
This has to be the best @iStock image. Whoever this man is, a grandad, a father. I salute you and your hat #tapsaff pic.twitter.com/OKcdnZbZlS
— Callum Main (@EECallum) July 19, 2016
READ MORE: Polar bears enjoy a cone in the sun
Age is no barrier to getting your pale bits out.
84 year old neighbour is #tapsaff already.
— rɘƚro ɒpɘrƚurɘ (@RetroAperture) July 19, 2016
Even the cops were getting in on the banter.
Costa Del Methil is back! Scorchio oot there. Mind yer factor 50 if yer a bit peely wally!🌞#TapsAff #sunburnsnogid pic.twitter.com/SOzFqyY7fB
— LevenmouthPolice (@LevenmouthPol) July 19, 2016
Gainful employment ceases to be a priority when the sun is out.
Get out the office & enjoy the sunshine! Your boss said it was fine*
— This is my Mortgage (@thisismymortgUK) July 19, 2016
*May not be true #hottestdayoftheyear #tapsaff pic.twitter.com/4fIML5x6Xy
Though social media recognises no division of country, one user pointed out our southern cousins may be left scratching their heads.
#TapsAff is trending on Twitter! There will be some very confused English people 🙈
— Andrew Conway (@andrewtconway) July 19, 2016
Having to explain the concept of #TapsAff weather to your Ukrainian colleague 😂😂😂 dinny get burnt Scottish tweeps!
— Claire Motion (@physicsclaire) July 19, 2016
Spare a thought for the many red heads that bless our sun-kissed land, forced to huddle beneath parasols and a slather of factor 50
#TapsAff Plan of action
— lesleynic (@oldishrockchick) July 19, 2016
1 Close curtains
2 Pretend it's raining
3 Stick on some blooze
4 Wallow in the exquisite misery#palelivesmatter
Some people chose to share some stunning photos of their locale basking in the sun.
Live from Princes Street Gardens: 19.30h, 19 degrees and a real summer feel to @edinburgh tonight. ☀️ #tapsaff pic.twitter.com/ItNhAhZyQB
— Swivel Eyed Broon (@Mr_Mark_Brown) July 9, 2016
Fluffy clouds & blue skies on campus today! #hottestdayoftheyear #tapsaff #StrathclydeUni #glasgow #sunshine 🌞☉🌡⛅🔥 pic.twitter.com/yJCYv1urFx
— Chemical Engineering (@Strath_ChemEng) July 19, 2016
Milk was a bad choice.
Roofing in july is a big mistake #tapsaff #sunburn
— Lou (@Kinyeno) July 7, 2016
We suspect some clever photo manipulation may be at work here.
I wonder if anybody will pay attention to this notice in Fife today. I rather suspect not! pic.twitter.com/pTw0q0R3dO
— Neil Drysdale (@NeilDrysdale) July 19, 2016
Even Scotland's heraldic animals are getting in on the act.
What a day! The Scottish summer is finally showing its face #hottestdayoftheyear #tapsaff ☀️🔥 pic.twitter.com/Es3ABhFH7p
— DotScot Registry (@dot_SCOT) July 19, 2016
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article