Attendance at schools across the country has dropped following bomb threats - despite Police Scotland confirming they were a hoax.

Parents have posted online that their children were still too worried to return to to the classroom and several councils have confirmed that absence rates were much higher than usual on Tuesday.

Glasgow City Council said that some of their schools had 50% fewer pupils than normal.

Councillor James Dalgleish, convenor of education, children and families at Edinburgh City Council urged parents to "speak to their children and calm their fears".

He said: "I want to stress that we have worked with police as well as following our own safety policies and we established there was no risk to pupils."

"If you have any concerns about attending, please speak to your child's school. School staff will also be checking in with pupils to make sure they are safe and supported," he said.

East Ayrshire Council said absence rates were three times higher than at the start of the month, with 4,881 kids off compared with 1,600 on 1 October.

Meanwhile, Midlothian council said it had a 21.5% absence rate compared with 6.9% across primary and secondary schools on the same day last year.

Hundreds of people contacted police after schools across Scotland received the emails on Monday.

Similar hoax emails warning of an "explosive device" were also sent to about 300 schools in Northern Ireland.

A Police Scotland spokesperson said: "These messages have been assessed and are being treated as a hoax, with nothing to suggest any threat to the public."

They added that officers and staff from Police Scotland's Cyber and Fraud Unit were "working closely with partners" and were continuing to carry out "extensive inquiries to establish the source".