It was a wet and windy Up-Helly-A’ – and an undoubted success, as our video shows.

The conditions led to a shortening of the torch parade, but gales and downpours were not enough to dampen the spirits of the assembled guizers and crowds of onlookers on Tuesday night. 

Our video footage  shows there were plenty of colourful costumes among the squads and the guizers remained in good voice. And they were certainly in high spirits once the tour of the halls began.

For a full round-up of Up-Helly-A’ 2013  don’t miss Friday’s paper which includes a 16-page supplement.

Many thought it would never happen, but on Wednesday night the legendary rock-and-roll band Status Quo finally struck a chord on a Shetland stage to a crowd of around 1,200 at the Clickimin Centre.

Thousands of people watched the procession and burning of Guizer Jarl David Nicolson’s galley Per Ardua on a cold and windy but dry Up-Helly-A’ night.

Jarl David Nicolson cuts an imposing figure at the head of his unusual black-painted “Stealth” galley Per Ardua, his flowing beard swept to the side by the bitterly cold wind. He has the steely gaze and self-assured demeanour befitting of a military leader.

It happens every year behind very firmly closed doors. Today users of The Shetland Times website can view the building of the 2012 galley Per Ardua, courtesy of photographer Chris Brown who has created a time-lapse video.