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Atlantic crossing bid: 'Weather worse than anything I had ever experienced'

In May 2018 Niall Iain Macdonald set off to row more than 3,400-mile (5,471km) from the US east coast to Lewis in the Western Isles.

But bad weather forced him to abandon his storm-damaged boat and he had to be dramatically rescued.

The Gaelic TV and radio broadcaster recounts his adventure story in the BBC Alba documentary NY2SY.

28 December 2020

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Gloved hand picking up one of five Lewis chessmen. Two are facing the camera and three away from the camera.

See a brand new view of the Lewis chessmen

David Holt

Brother on moment he learned rower's boat found

Ligthing strikes in the eye of Hurricane Lee

Stunning lightning at the heart of Hurricane Lee

Orca interacts with boat in the Strait of Gibraltar

Atlantic orcas filmed 'learning from adults' to ram boats

Science & Environment

Stranded pilot whales

Pod of 55 pilot whales stranded on beach in Scotland

Turtle in a net

The man who first discovered plastic in the ocean

Boaters rescued

Two boaters and a dog rescued after 10 days at sea

An angler filmed the bright light streaking across the sky during a fishing trip in the Western Isles.

Angler catches fireball meteor in video

Highlands & Islands

Dead fish floating off the Bay of Biscay

'100,000 dead fish' spilled into the Atlantic Ocean

Coastguard

Coastguards mark 200 years of saving lives at sea

Tori Murden in her boat, The American Pearl, on the Atlantic Ocean

How Muhammad Ali inspired one woman's ocean row

Mouse

Mouse sighting threatens Gough Island seabird project

Science & Environment

At his home on the Shetland Islands, engineer Rod Read builds homemade spinning kite turbines which can generate clean electricity.

The Scottish inventor ‘drilling the sky' for energy

Ian Rivers

Ex-SAS soldier returns from row across Atlantic

Hereford & Worcester

Cousins with the bottle

Message in a bottle's transatlantic tale

Northern Ireland

Lorna Norgrove

'Linda would be heartbroken for Afghan women'

Highlands & Islands

Ocean mooring

'Longest sediment flow ever measured in action'

Science & Environment

The sinuous channel in the eastern Atlantic plays host to huge submarine landslides.

Fly through the underwater Congo Canyon

Science & Environment

Loch Seaforth

Loch Seaforth ferry heads back out to sea

Pressure Drop

Discovering over 100 new mountains under water

Science & Environment

BBC Scotland political editor Glenn Campbell lying on the ground with a blue beanie hat and wrapped in a silver blanket

‘I wanted to show what having a seizure was like’

BBC Scotland's political editor Glenn Campbell has been describing his journey since being diagnosed with a cancerous brain tumour.

Weather presenter Christopher Blanchett standing in front of a large-scale photograph of wintry conditions

Weather forecast: First taste of winter in Scotland

Arctic air has been working its way in from the north, bringing cold temperatures that for the coming days.

SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn

Flynn: Reaction to 2026 Holyrood bid 'not pleasant'

The SNP Westminster leader will stand for the Aberdeen South and North Kincardine seat

Veterans during Edinburgh's Armistice Day event. One of them is saluting while the other have heads bowed while holding flags downward.

Watch: Armistice Day tributes take place across Scotland

The traditional 11 November two-minute period of remembrance took place at 11:00 across the country.

Three rescuers wearing life jackets and hard hats work to free a humpback whale in a sea loch

Humpback whale tangled in creel lines set free

Experts used underwater cameras to work out how the whale was trapped, before untangling it in Loch Fyne.

Sandy Duthie from Aberdeenshire is now the lighthouse keeper on Gabo Island, in Victoria

The Scot in charge of an Australian lighthouse

Sandy Duthie from Aberdeenshire is now the lighthouse keeper on Gabo Island, in Victoria

Police stand next to a blue trawler vessel moored in a harbour

Watch: Police target fishing boat over 'modern slavery' claim

A 38-year-old man was arrested and two Ghanaian men were removed from the vessel as part of the operation.

Firework explodes on the top or a building behind a traffic island sending red and yellow sparks showering metres in all directions.

Watch: Fireworks set off on Scottish streets on Bonfire Night

Fire crews have been attacked as fireworks were set off on streets across Scotland on Bonfire Night.

The Jacobite Express steam train crossing the Glenfinnan Viaduct in the Scottish Highlands

Repairing Scotland's historic 'Harry Potter' bridge

Engineers have been working day and night on the Glenfinnan Viaduct as part of a £3.4m restoration project.

Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh, wearing a blue top and black coat, stands beside Alex Salmond, wearing a blue shirt and dark jacket

Salmond death was shock to all in North Macedonia - Ahmed-Sheikh

Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh says people in North Macedonia wanted to pay tribute to Alex Salmond.

Waves can be seen overtopping the barrier at Troon. The sky is grey and sea mist is being blown high by the wind.

Watch: Stormy waters and high winds as storm hits Scotland

Storm Ashley could cause gusts of up to 70-80 mph (113-129km/h) in some areas of Scotland.

Gillian Smart wears a red and black dress. She presents the weather in front of a green screen which forecasts high winds across Scotland.

The latest weather forecast as Storm Ashley hits Scotland

Gillian Smart has the latest weather forecast, as a yellow warning for high winds gusting up to 60 mph (97km/h) is in force across the whole of Scotland.

North Macedonian soldiers carrying Alex Salmond's coffin draped in a Saltire towards a private jet

Alex Salmond’s coffin flown home to Scotland

A plane carrying Alex Salmond's body has left North Macedonia and is being flown back to Scotland.

Black and white horse sticking its head out of a barn door while a police officer feeds it

Watch: Training police horses to help deal with public disorder

The BBC has been given an exclusive insight into the training of police horses when it comes to dealing with public order.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, wears a blue suit and glasses, as he stands in the House of Commons. Angela Rayner and Rachel Reeves sit either side of him on the benches.

Salmond was a monumental figure in politics - Starmer

Prime Minister Keir Starmer pays tribute to the 'lasting legacy' of Alex Salmond.

Chris McEleny of the Alba Party speaks to the BBC via Zoom from Zagreb in Croatia

'Can't believe it's happened' - Salmond's Alba colleague

Chris McEleny of the Alba Party is travelling to North Macedonia, where Alex Salmond died on Saturday.

Calum MacColl

BBC weather presenter bursts into song live on air

Calum MacColl sung the Gaelic song that won him a gold medal at the Royal National Mòd in 2021.

Sally Magnusson sits in a darkened room wearing blue-rimmed glasses, a white top and a burgundy blazer

Sally Magnusson hears how a cure for Alzheimer's is 'within our grasp'

Sally Magnusson hears how testing for early symptoms of Alzheimer's could help find a cure for the condition.

BBC Scotland political correspondent Kirsten Campbell

Take a look at the Scottish Parliament building on its 20th birthday

The Scottish Parliament officially opened 20 years ago - but did you know the meanings behind some of its key features?

Snow expert Iain Cameron, wearing glasses and a great rain jacket, poses next to the Sphinx snow patch, which is about one metre wide and is melting into the ground below.

My pilgrimage to the vanishing Sphinx snow patch

The Sphinx, a patch of snow thought to be the longest-lasting in the UK, has melted for the fourth consecutive year.