Yes people, it’s finally here. UK Street View has arrived. We will update this post as news develops! UK news agencies looking for comment can get in touch via our contact form

Street View has arrived here in the UK at long last, and Google have given us imagery in many parts of Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Additionally, Street View is now available in the Netherlands for the first time, and while they were at it, Google has added several new cities in France and Spain!

Coverage is extensive, and covers all of the UK’s major cities. Both of the GSS HQs in Edinburgh and Oxford have coverage, and London has an absolutely staggering number of blue lined streets!

In Edinburgh the images appear to have been taken mainly during the Edinburgh Festival, which explains why there’s lots of odd looking people around.¹ You can see the seating for the Edinburgh Military Tattoo in place on the Castle Esplanade.

Here’s London’s seat of power, Downing Street, showing off their awesome security measures, which has been captured alongside all of the other standard tourist sights like the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben.

In Belfast, it seems that the famous Northern Irish political murals aren’t safe from Google’s face-blurring software!

The Netherlands has also received a large helping of Street View today with coverage of Amsterdam and Rotterdam. Here’s the “Coffee Shop Extase” and Sex Museum:

Other reports are coming in of new Street View imagery in France (including Calais and Le Havre), Spain (including expanded coverage or Barcelona), Northern Italy, and expanded coverage in numerous US states.

Make sure to follow us on Twitter for the latest news, and new Street Views throughout the day.

Google Maps Mania has a good selection of London sights to see, but what else have you found?

Standing majestically atop a rock outcropping in Granada is the Alhambra, a Moorish fort and palace complex now protected as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The name Alhambra means red fortress – after the red clay from which it was constructed in the 14th century, though the first fort on the site was traced back to 9th or 10th century. Built to house Muslim rulers in the region, the complex includes a number of palaces, towers and defensive features, including the alcazaba (citadel) with walls and watchtowers protecting the interior buildings.

The Royal Complex containing ceremonial areas, offices and the harem is located at the northern edge of the plateau.

These buildings contain many beautiful architectural and artistic features, Islamic in origin, but quite unique due to the isolation from other Islamic areas, and local influences. Unfortunately, many features were damaged or destroyed in redevelopment efforts after the city was conquered in 1492.

Dominating the centre of the complex is the Palace of Charles V, built in 1527.

To the east, across a ravine, lies Generalife, the summer palace and gardens of the Muslim rulers.

The Water Garden Courtyard is quite well preserved, though many of the gardens are much more recent.

Live Maps has excellent bird’s eye views which let you explore the whole complex:

You can learn a lot more at the Alhambra’s official site, and Wikipedia.

Thanks to Gerhard, Jeff Burton, Seabhcan, Manuel Fernandez and Webmaster.

Yesterday Google released a major update to Google Earth, adding 3D oceans, a Mars browser and, best of all, historical imagery for much of the globe.

In some places the images go back decades, such as this shot of the Las Vegas strip from July 1950.

When compared with the current view you can see how the strip expanded around the airport, which was in the middle of a barren desert.

Manhattan island also has images for many different years, and going back to April 1994 we can see the World Trade Centre towers.

Although there’s a wealth of new images we’ve never seen before, the update also gives us back lots of great shots that had previously been removed.

Way back in May 2005 we posted a stealth bomber that had been spotted at Edward’s Air Force Base, but later vanished with an image update. Now, by scrolling back to March 15th 2005, the bomber re-appears.

Or, if we keep going back until May 1994 we can see a couple of Blackbirds instead.

We can also revisit one of my favourite sights from the Google Sightseeing archives, the SS American Star.

These days it’s almost completely submerged, but step back through time until 2000 and you’ll see it rise out of the water and right itself.

So, get browsing the archives, and let us know what’s returned!

The world’s largest weather vane can be found in Yukon, alongside the runway at Whitehorse airport, in the unusual form of a DC-3 plane.

After 28 years of service, mostly among Canada’s northern communities, the plane was retired in 1970 and lay idle for a while. Volunteer effort led to its restoration and it was mounted on a carefully designed pedestal in 1981. The plane is so well balanced that a wind of only 5 knots will cause it to turn. According to Wikipedia, the DC-3 is almost 20m long, 5m high and weighs over 8000kg.

I should mention that, from what I can tell, the plane has not been officially recognised, with the Guinness World Record currently being held by a weather vane atop the Tio Pepe facility in Jerez, Spain. However, as it’s somewhat smaller than a plane, and the Google images are not great, it’s hard to spot. Live Maps has a clearer view.

It’s difficult to find much information about the Tio Pepe weather vane – this site describes it as standing almost 40m tall (but judging from the pictures that height must includes the building it is atop) and weighing 2700kg.

In addition, there is a weather vane in Montague, MI staking a claim to be the largest, though again – at 14m tall and 8m long – it may be taller than a DC-3, but is not quite as big! The Google imagery of the town is very low resolution, but Live Maps has a pretty good bird’s eye view.

Well we’ve thought we’ve seen people relieving themselves in front of the Street View car before, but we’ve never had such definitive evidence.

No, it’s not what you’re thinking – quite the opposite in fact. This time, while working in Madrid, the Google car has captured an image of a woman taking a pee in the street.

Anyone want to take bets on how quickly this will be removed? And will El País pick up the story before then!?

Update: As expected, the image is now gone.