The Winter Olympics 2018 takes place this month amid sub-zero Pyeongchang temperatures.

A band of Scottish athletes will be in action, looking to warm the hearts of those back home by turning up the heat in South Korea.

Windchill temperatures of around -30C ensure the winter games is certainly living up to it's billing,

Team GB hold high hopes, aiming to better the five medals of Sochi and make this their most successful ever games.

To do so, Scottish athletes will have to come to the fore. Elise Christie arrives as the GB games poster girl, while it's a family affair in curling.

Here we run the rule over Scotland's great medal hopes:

Speed skater Elise Christie is out to right the wrongs of Socchi when she takes to the ice in South Korea.

With the weight of expectation on her shoulders, the Livingston short-track competitor suffered humiliation four years ago when she was disqualified in all three of her races.

Since then the 27-year-old has recovered impressively, bouncing back to become world champion in March of last year.

Christie has carried that form into 2018 and arrives in Pyeongchang with gold medal aspirations.

Regardless of her Socchi agony, Christie has vowed she won't play safe in her quest for victory.

Is it time for Christie to shine?

The sight of Eve Muirhead's Scottish rink standing on the podium come the end of a tournament has become a common sight on the ice over the years.

Bronze in Socchi four years ago was built upon by a third place finish at the 2017 World Championships and gold at the recent European Championships.

As a result, they are billed as one of GB's top medal hopes in South Korea.

Skipper Muirhead, returning for her third games at just 27, leads a determined group. Socchi teammates Anna Sloan and Vicki Adams are also back for another crack at the Games, while Lauren Gray steps up to replace Claire Hamilton. Experienced two-time Olympian Kelly Schafer takes up the reserve position.

The quintet have every reason to be confident given their form. They begin on Wednesday against the Russian rink, who will compete under the Olympic flag as "Olympic Athletes from Russia" after a doping scandal ruled out the majority of Russian athletes.

Will they sweep away the competition en route to gold?

GB curling is a family affair in South Korea, with Eve Muirhead's brothers Greg and Thomas part of the men's team making their Olympic debut.

The siblings' rink were chosen ahead of David Murdoch's - who won silver in Socchi - after a strong start to the season on tour in Canada saw them go top of the ranking points table.

Skippered by Kyle Smith, also from Perth, medal success would be a huge achievement in a highly competitive field. Smith's brother Cammy is also in the team as lead, alongside Kyle Waddell.

The team were prolific at youth level, accumulating World Junior Championship bronze in 2012, gold in 2013 and silver the following year.

Can they replicate that form on the greatest stage of them all?

Elise Christie and the curlers will be spared the worst of the winter chill as they compete indoors but there is no such luck for cross-country skier Andrew Musgrave.

Musgrave, born in Poole but brought up on the Shetland Islands and in Huntly, Aberdeenshire, will brave the cold as he aims to become Britain's first medallist in cross-country skiing.

The 27-year-old finished 29th in the cross-country sprint four years ago but has been emboldened by a fourth place finish in the World Championships 50k freestyle and third over 15k, his favoured distance, in December's World Cup.

As such, he arrives at his third Games in arguably the best form of his career.

Musgrave will be joined in competition by Andrew Young and Callum Smith, fellow alumni of Huntly's Nordic Skiing Club.

Faced with revered Norwegian and Swiss opposition, they face an uphill battle on the slopes.

Will the underdog upset the odds?