A German astronaut has tweeted a photograph of Scotland taken from the International Space Station (ISS).

Alexander Gerst tweeted the picture, which was taken as the ISS passed over Europe, this morning with the message "Greetings to #Scotland - looks like a great day down there! #BlueDot."

Gerst is on a six month visit to the ISS as part of the European Space Agency's Blue Dot mission.

The astronaut, geophysicist and volcanologist is the third German to visit the space station.