The BBC's Scotland Editor is adding to the number of Scottish journalists working for the corporation in the US.

Sarah Smith, who was appointed as the corporation's first Scotland Editor in 2015, is temporarily reporting from Washington DC.

Ms Smith, daughter of the later Labour leader John Smith, is to cover for Jon Sopel, the North America Editor, who is on holiday.

READ MORE: Chancellor Philip Hammond dashes First Minister Nicola Sturgeon's hope of Scottish Brexit deal

She joins fellow Scots Laura Bicker, a Washington Correspondent, and James Cook, the former Scotland Correspondent and Reporting Scotland reporter, who covers north America from a base in Los Angeles.

A BBC source said: "She is in Washington as a short term cover for Jon."

Ms Smith previously worked in Edinburgh, Washington and London for Channel 4 News, and returned to the BBC in 2014 to present BBC Scotland’s current affairs TV programme, Scotland 2014, in the run up to the independence referendum.

She began her career at BBC Scotland as a graduate production trainee, starting out on Good Morning Scotland and Head On, and also worked in Northern Ireland on Spotlight and Inside Ulster.

READ MORE: Chancellor Philip Hammond dashes First Minister Nicola Sturgeon's hope of Scottish Brexit deal

As Scotland Correspondent for Channel 4 News, she covered the first elections to the Scottish Parliament.

She then became a regular presenter on the programme, and was the launch presenter of More4News.