Britain's 15 loneliest places

As Aron Anderson, described as "Britain's loneliest schoolboy", prepares for a quiet winter on the island of Out Skerries, we visit 13 more remote places

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1. Foula

This bleakly beautiful spot, the most westerly of the Shetland Islands, is home to just 38 people (mostly farmers) – or three per square kilometre. A small airfield connects it with Tingwall Airport on mainland Shetland, and weekly ferry services operate, but powerful gales sometimes cut the island off for weeks. In 1955 it was isolated for 48 days. “Foula Still Holds Out,” the newspapers reported. “Foodstuffs Short But Islanders Cheerful.”

It is home to Britain's biggest colony of Great Skuas, or “bonxies”, the dive-bombing bruisers of the bird world.

Picture: ALAMY