Gales and snow failed to prevent bargain hunters making an early dash for the shops on Boxing Day.
Although the Met Office put out snow warnings for Tayside and Fife, hardy shoppers were still up before dawn to get first crack at the sales.
In Dundee, people began queuing outside Next in the Gallagher retail park as early as 2am – four hours before the store opened.
The Overgate Centre was also a popular destination.
Traffic queued along Willison Street and North Lindsay Street as Boxing Day bargain hunters waited for a space in the car park.
In Perth, most of the major stores on the High Street including Next, Debenhams and New Look all opened up.
Not all the crowds were looking to buy, however, with many saying they were returning unwanted Christmas gifts at the earliest opportunity.
One of the biggest annual sales in Perth was at James Barclay Carpets and Furnishings in Glasgow Road.
“Business has been brisk,” said Mr Barclay. “There are loads of bargains — quite a few items are less than half price.”
Thousands hit shopping centres across Fife, with many retailers choosing to open early to lure customers in.
At the Fife Central Retail Park in Kirkcaldy, hardy souls queued from the wee small hours to be the first into fashion chain Next.
Large volumes of traffic were reported at the site throughout the day, as thousands took the opportunity to splash the cash on clothes, toys and electronics.
Meanwhile, the town’s High Street experienced a steady if unspectacular start to the sale season, with the wet and windy conditions clearly deterring some shoppers in the early part of the day, a situation replicated in St Andrews.
Despite a big turnout across Tayside and Fife, Barclaycard said fewer shoppers were expected to brave the sales this year compared to last.
They said around a quarter of Britons (23%) would hit the sales, compared to 32% last year.
But nearly £4 billion was expected to be spent on goods, with £2.95bn spent in the shops and another £900 million online.