Scottish ambulance staff were "extremely busy" over Hogmanay, facing more than 2,000 emergency calls between 7pm on New Year's Eve and 7am on January 1.
The Scottish Ambulance Service said staff had to handle around one call every 15 seconds during the busiest period between 1.30am and 2.45am.
The NHS service said ambulance control centres saw an increase of 2.2 per cent compared to the same period in 2022.
Read more: Ambulance service red flags thousands of Scottish addresses
Julie Carter, on-call executive director with the Scottish Ambulance Service, said: “The overall level of demand for our service over the festive period has exceeded previous years and Hogmanay was one of our busiest nights of the year.
"Yet again, our staff in our control centres, on the frontline and support staff showed what an incredible group of dedicated professionals they are. They are a true credit to the SAS.
“This winter we continue to face significant challenges as a result of the time of year and continuing long hospital turnaround times at some hospitals which are stopping our staff from getting back out on the road to help other patients in need.
“To help our staff, we’d like to remind people to please only call 999 in a life-threatening emergency."
Ms Carter advised people who need urgent care which is not life threatening to call NHS 24 on 111, day or night, or during their GP during opening hours.
Read more: Attacks on ambulance staff soar by 20 per cent in Scotland
It comes after reports attacks on ambulance staff have risen by nearly 20 per cent in the past year, reaching an average of almost one a day.
Workers were subjected to 328 assaults in 2023, up by 18 per cent on the 277 attacks in the previous year.
Twenty one staff were threatened with a knife or a bottle, while 140 were either punched, kicked, or spat on.
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