A Perthshire school group narrowly avoided getting caught up in a lockdown during a trip to Brussels at the weekend.
Pupils from Perth High have returned home after a four-day science trip to Belgium.
The party of 31 pupils and five staff arrived in the city on Friday, just hours before authorities brought it to a standstill, closing schools, public transport and restaurants while moving armed soldiers on to the streets.
The pupils spent one day in Brussels before travelling about 100 miles north to the Euro Space Centre.
Teacher Sinead Nirian-Harvey said: “We were very fortunate that our day in Brussels was on the Friday, before the lockdown.”
Brussels was placed on the highest state of alert over fears of a Paris-style massacre by Islamic State terrorists.
Mrs Nirian-Harvey said: “We were able to put the message out on social media that everyone was fine and the trip was going well.
“Parents who were concerned were able to speak to myself or staff at the school.
“Some of the pupils were getting texts from friends back home and we had to speak to them about what was going on and reassure them.
“But the trip was a great success and everyone had a really good time.”
The group returned to Scotland via ferry from Zeebrugge.
Brussels-based Church of Scotland minister the Rev Andrew Gardener, who was previously assistant probationer minister at Dundee’s High Kirk, said he had been stopped from holding services during the lockdown.
“It made no sense to gather people together for Christian worship when public gatherings were being discouraged, public transport disrupted and those coming into the city were feeling anxious,” Mr Gardener said.
“It was a strange Sunday.”