By LOUISE HOUSTON

SCOTLAND'S Olympic and Paralympic stars paraded through Manchester to celebrate their record-breaking performances at Rio 2016.

Ace tennis star Gordon Reid, from Helensburgh, and rower Katherine Grainger, from Bearsden, were among the sports heroes taking part in the celebrations yesterday.

More than 150,000 people braved the rain to line the parade route sporting gold hats and waving flags.

The procession started at the Museum of Science and Industry and ended in Albert Square where 400 athletes gathered on stage.

London will have its own celebration on Tuesday in Trafalgar Square.

Team GB set an Olympic record in Rio 2016 by winning 67 medals - two more than they managed at London 2012.

The Paralympians also bested their previous performance with 147 medals - 27 more than four years ago.

The parade was broadcast on big screens in the city centre and the Kaiser Chiefs were performing live.

Manchester was chosen for the first parade to reflect the contribution made by athletes from across the UK, the government said.

The city has become the hub for Team GB and Paralympics GB's all-conquering cyclists and para-cyclists since the opening of Britain's first indoor Olympic cycling track there in 1994.

Sports stars including Jessica Ennis-Hill, Dame Sarah Storey, Max Whitlock, Jade Jones and Nicola Adams were among the athletes who attended.

Ennis-Hill said even though she was "a bit wet" it was "a really nice occasion to come here and be on the float, celebrating Rio, and also saying goodbye to everyone".

Team GB's Women's Hockey Team were also there although goalkeeper Maddie Hinch, who saved all four penalties in the shootout in the final against the Netherlands, nearly missed the parade.

Her flight from the Netherlands, where she now plays, was cancelled but luckily three hours later she was on the way.

Sue Murphy, deputy leader of Manchester City Council, said: "We couldn't be more thrilled to host the national parade."

She added: "The city has been a medal factory, pumping out golds as the home of British Cycling and British Taekwondo."

Bill Sweeney, chief executive of the British Olympic Association, said: "The British public have a fantastic opportunity to meet their Rio heroes."

The procession, which is the city's largest sporting celebration since Manchester United's parade after their Champions' League, Premier League and FA Cup treble in 1999, took in Deansgate, Huntsbank, Todd Street, Corporation Street, Exchange Square, Cross Street and finally Albert Square, where the finale was broadcast on big screens within the city centre.