People were spotted gathered at popular Scots tourists spots at midnight on New Year's Eve.
Crowds could be seen on Calton Hill in Edinburgh and George Square in Glasgow for some impromptu Hogmanay celebrations.
Traditional celebrations including Edinburgh's famed street party were cancelled due to the ongoing coronavirus crisis, with organisers opting for more Covid-safe ways to bring in 2021.
READ MORE: Scots welcome 2021 with a bang with dazzling drone display in Edinburgh
The gatherings come despite repeated warnings from First Minister Nicola Sturgeon to stay at home for New Year's celebrations.
Mainland Scotland has been under level four coronavirus restrictions for almost a week after new rules came into place on Boxing Day in light of concern over a new, faster-spreading variant of Covid-19.
Orkney, Shetland, the Western Isles and some other islands in Scotland were moved to level three on the same day.
Police Scotland echoed the warnings from the Scottish Government, with deputy chief constable Malcolm Graham telling the BBC that he wanted people to take "personal responsibility".
"Regulations do allow for small groups up to six people from only two households together outdoors," he said.
"But we're encouraging people to take personal responsibility for doing the right thing and using their judgment about what's appropriate to do in these circumstances.
"It's been the case that very often gatherings become larger, we've seen a lot of gatherings outside that have involved far larger groups of more than two households and we'll continue to use the approach we have to engage with people.
"We've broken a lot of gatherings like that up and I think in the large majority of cases that we're dealing with people know that's against the regulations and that it's unsafe to be doing that.
""I should also add the overwhelming majority of people across Scotland have adhered relentlessly to these really highly restrictive measures that have been in place and I thank everybody for continuing to do that."
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