Drugs deaths in Scotland have hit a record high after rising 23% in a single year.

There were 867 in 2016, up from 706 in 2015 and double the number recorded a decade ago.

The latest figures were revealed on Tuesday by National Records of Scotland (NTS).

The rate of drugs deaths in Scotland per head of population is around two and a half times that of the UK as a whole.

Opioids like heroin, morphine and methadone were implicated in 765 deaths last year, while 176 involved cocaine, ecstasy or amphetamines such as speed.

The majority of fatalities involved more than one drug and alcohol was also a factor, implicated in about one in ten fatalities. Heroin and morphine contributed to more deaths in 2016 than in any previous year.

The number in which new psychoactive substances - better known as legal highs - were implicated soared to 286, up from 74 in 2015.

The rate of drugs deaths in Scotland is "well above" that of "most if not all" EU countries, according to NTS.

About 76% of people who died last year were aged 35 or older. The average age was 41.

About 30% of deaths were in the Greater Glasgow and Clyde NHS board area, 15% in Lothian and 13% in Lanarkshire.

NTS has recorded figures on drugs-related deaths in their current format since 1996.