Map reading

Dr A Mccormick (Letters, 8 February) is correct to say that the Mercator cylindrical map projection distorts area, and the further from the equator, the greater the distortion (Greenland is made to look as big as South America). However, in an area as small as the UK the distortion is minimal. The tilted map that has been jettisoned by the BBC, however, makes Scotland (which is one-third of the area of the UK) look like a small county to the north of Yorkshire which, of course, is exactly what people in the south of England think we are.

COLIN MCALLISTER South Street, St Andrews