The sun might be shining, but Scotland's finances are very gloomy indeed

Shona Robison painted a bleak picture as she spoke to journalists at Edinburgh Napier University on Wednesday. The sun may have been shining outside, but inside it was doom and gloom.

Tough decisions will need to be made in the coming weeks and months, the finance secretary said. The immediate pressures are twofold.

First, there’s the £22 billion “hole” in the public finances announced by Chancellor Rachel Reeves when Labour took power in Westminster. Then, there’s the impact of public sector pay deals.

“You cannot make £22 billion of public sector cuts without consequences, and those consequences will be felt here in Scotland as well,” Ms Robison said.

She has ordered "emergency controls" on public spending, and will set out more detail in a financial statement when Holyrood returns from its summer recess next month.

Where will the axe fall? Many areas already feel pretty precarious. Creative Scotland, for example, has warned the country’s arts industry is facing years of “managed decline”.

Asked what she would say to Scots who worry public services are going to start “crumbling away”, Ms Robison said: “We’ll make sure they don’t crumble away and our priority is clear in making sure that we sustain public services, that we continue to tackle poverty and that we continue to invest in net zero and transforming our economy – those are our key priorities. But we will have to decide what we de-prioritise, and that work is ongoing.”

It’s not exactly reassuring. But across the UK, belts are tightening.

It came as official statistics showed Scotland’s public spending deficit has risen to £22.7 billion, compared to just over £18 billion the previous year, as revenue from North Sea oil and gas halved.

Meanwhile, the Scottish Government has confirmed a new benefit to help with the cost of fuel bills will not be paid to all pensioners.

Ministers at Holyrood had initially hoped the pension age winter heating payment – which is being introduced in Scotland to replace the UK’s winter fuel payment – would be a universal benefit. But after Ms Reeves announced the UK payment will no longer be made to everyone above state pension age, the Scottish Government said it has “no choice” but to do the same.

Enjoy the sun while it lasts. The grey clouds are gathering.