Hundreds of friends and family have paid their last respects to a popular teacher who died in a sledging accident.

Large crowds attended St Aloysius Catholic Church in Glasgow to pay their respects and leave floral tributes to Lanark Primary teacher Maryam Najafian.

After the service mourners embraced each other as audible sobbing could be heard.

Temporary additional seating was needed as the church pews quickly filled up at the funeral.

The 25 year old had been sledging in a snowy Kelvingrove Park on January 18 when she crashed, suffering fatal head injuries.

She was due to wed partner Andrew Duncan this summer.

Her funeral service was conducted at the Roman Catholic church by Fathers Tim Curtis and Brian Lamb and Imam Sobhani.

Readings were made from both the Bible and the Quran as the service closed while family members, friends and colleagues gave tributes.

Several dedications to Maryam were written and read by those closest to her.

The entrance hymn 'Morning Has Broken' preceded a reading of EE Cummings poem 'I Carry Your Heart With Me'.

Several other family members read poems which they dedicated to the young teacher, including 'Do Not Stand At My Grave and Weep' by Mary Elizabeth Frye.

Some had written their own dedications, including a Persian poem and a reading titled 'To My Dearest Maryam'.

Written by Mohsen Najafian, it said: "Thoughts flood our brain for where to turn next. Should we go back? We don't, our footsteps becoming increasingly louder as the crunch breaks into a cacophony of white noise.

"We press on, blinded and deafened by our grief. Some of us stumble, only to be plucked from the ground and embraced.

"Our brightest light has burnt out, our beautiful flower we held so dear.

"Together we press on; arm in arm, shoulder to shoulder, our strides in sync. I wish it was me on that fateful day, is all that we could think.

"Our brightest light has burnt out. But together we will find our way."

Maryam's headteacher Margaret Scott also gave a reading, while her grieving fiance Andrew Duncan read out a personal letter.

Ave Maria played as mourners departed the church.

A tribute from her parents which accompanied the coffin in the hearse said: "My heart for all of eternity from your very, very loving mother and father, Maryam."

Before the service, her family had described her as a "loving daughter, affectionate niece, guiding sister, beloved soul mate and fiancee, caring cousin and besotted auntie"