Swiftmania takes over Scotland: Taylor Swift fans skip work and queue hours for merch, sell out hotels and even rename a beauty spot after the star ahead of her first show in Edinburgh on record-breaking Eras Tour

Taylor Swift mania in the UK is reaching boiling point with her arrival in Edinburgh imminent as fans visiting Scotland sell out hotels and race to buy merchandise. Loch Tay, the largest loch in Perthshire, has been officially renamed Loch Tay Tay this morning to celebrate the 34-year-old bringing her record-breaking Eras Tour to Scotland on Friday.

Bagpipes played renditions of Taylor Swift songs at the renaming ceremony where a sign at the edge of the water was unveiled bearing the ancient beauty spot’s new name. As anticipation for the superstar’s arrival builds, the radio station Heart Scotland last week asked listeners to pitch ideas on how best to honour the superstar’s arrival and Loch Tay Tay was chosen.

Scotland’s First Minister, John Swinney – now dubbed Swinney the Swiftie – gave his seal of approval and said: ‘First thing I want to say to Taylor and all of her Swifties is they’re really welcome here in Scotland. ‘The fact that Loch Tay is being renamed Loch Tay Tay is just fabulous, I really hope she has the chance to go see it.’ Reacting to the SNP’s comments on the renaming of Loch Tay, one disapproving social media user wrote on X: ‘That is absolutely embarrassing.’

It comes as hundreds of fans queued for merchandise such as cocktails and t-shirts outside the Murrayfield Stadium, where Ms Swift is due to perform this weekend. More than 220,000 people are expected at the three Edinburgh shows, with some fanatics buying tickets for all three nights. Susan Berry, 48, took a half day off work and queued for merchandise from around 8am this morning.

She said: ‘I’ve never seen her live but I’ve watched it on Disney and watched the livestreams so I’ve actually seen it almost 100 times.’ Meanwhile, Swifties have even built a virtual 3D replica of the Murrayfield Stadium and shared it online so others can get a preview of the layout, where their seats will be and the best way to enter or exit the show. Carla McCormick, 38, took a class at Glasgow Clyde College to teach non-fans everything they needed to know about the singer – how she became famous, songs about her ex-boyfriends and what chants her fans sing when at the shows.

She said: ‘The idea came about because there’s lots of people going to the Era’s tour who might not be Swifties because they are either parents or plus ones. We only had an hour and a half but everyone who came along really threw themselves into it.’ Swiftmania is expected to pump as much as £1billion into the British economy this summer with around 1.2 million tickets sold for gigs in Liverpool, Cardiff and London. The Scottish capital has been gripped by Swiftmania ahead of the performances with huge signs in shop windows welcoming fans to the city. Sophie Snow, 29, has tickets to all three of the Murrayfield gigs.