A forecast to assess the chance of visitors to Scotland being terrorised by its notorious biting midge has been launched by the Press and Journal.

The daily service – billed by the P&J as a world first – will help visitors and locals assess the risk of falling prey to the country’s most irritating insect.

The forecasts, launched this week, rate Scotland on a five-point scale each day, from one indicating that midges are a negligible threat to five where they are likely to be a real nuisance.

They were developed by Edinburgh University-based firm Advanced Pest Solutions, headed by Dr Alison Blackwell.

She said: “The forecasts will be useful to holiday makers so they can prepare for the day ahead. We’re not trying to tell people to avoid areas in Scotland, we’re just trying to make it easier to cope with pests.

“If you went to a hot country you would want to know how bad the mosquitoes were wouldn’t you?”

Watch out! There’s a midge about.

Midges are sensitive to weather conditions so Alison’s team looks at weather patterns and combines the data with information about the midge’s life cycle, collected by using Calor gas-powered traps throughout Scotland to suck in and bag the midges. By applying a complex formula, it can predict midge conditions.

Contrary to popular belief, midges cannot carry diseases. The worst they can do is puncture the skin to draw blood, which causes characteristic itchiness and blotching.

The Press and Journal, Scotland’s biggest-selling quality daily paper, serves a huge circulation area in north and east Scotland, including the Highland heartland of highest midge activity.

Editor Derek Tucker said: “Anyone who has spent a summer’s evening in the Highlands will know only too well the little blighters’ determination to penetrate almost every physical and chemical barrier to bite those venturing outdoors.”