"The weather is among the reasons why Inverness has been selected for a planned computer complex offering data storage for people and businesses. IT firm Alchemy Plus and a wing of software giant Microsoft are involved in the £20m "cloud computing" project, earmarked for the city harbour.

The region's colder weather will help cool the many computers needed. The aim of the centre is to offer an alternative to storing data on individual PCs.

Instead, applications and services would be delivered over the internet - allowing people and firms to log into them from anywhere.

Highlands-based Alchemy Plus said it was preparing a planning application to be submitted early next year and hoped to have the centre running by the end of 2010. It has been estimated the project would create 400 jobs. "