Mosquitoes in Scotland add to the misery of midges - Susan Dalgety

In Malawi, every mosquito bite also carries with it the risk of malaria, which is why I also have to take anti-malarial medicine whenever I visit.

One of my enduring memories of Africa is attending the funeral of a five-year-old girl who had died within 48 hours of contracting the deadly disease. I can still recall her mother’s screams of agony as her daughter was buried.

Despite recent medical advances, malaria still kills a child every minute in Africa – nearly half a million a year.

It came as a shock, therefore, to read that mosquitoes have been found as far north as Shetland for the first time. A Glasgow University study to assess the risk of mosquitoes carrying deadly diseases ever reaching Scotland shows that there are have been 700 sightings of the pesky insects in the last year.

Luckily, none of 21 species found here are the kind that carry tropical diseases, such as malaria or dengue fever, but with climate change causing major disruption to our natural environment, anything is possible.

The study had originally thought the public were mistaking midges for mosquitoes but further examination showed that there are areas of the country swarming with the tiny beasts. They are mostly found in the dense woodlands but have been known to survive in towns and cities.

As someone who grew up in the south west of Scotland, I have horrific memories of balmy summer evenings destroyed by swarms of midgies. The thought of them being joined by mosquitoes, particularly ones loaded with malaria, fills me with horror.

The only consolation is that since moving to Edinburgh more than 40 years ago, I have not once spotted a midgie. It seems they much prefer the damp west coast to our windy eastern seaboard.

Here's hoping that mosquitoes show the same preference for the rain-soaked west of Scotland and leave us in peace.