1988 in Scotland

Centuries:	18th; 19th; 20th; 21st; ;
Decades:	1960s; 1970s; 1980s; 1990s; 2000s;
See also:	List of years in Scotland; Timeline of Scottish history; 1988 in: The UK • England • Wales • Elsewhere; Scottish football: 1987–88 • 1988–89; 1988 in Scottish television

Events from the year 1988 in Scotland.

Incumbents

March – Seafield Colliery at Kirkcaldy closes.
26 April–26 September – Glasgow Garden Festival. Bell's Bridge is built in connection with it.
21 May – "Sermon on the Mound": Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, addresses the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland.
6 July – Piper Alpha oil rig in the North Sea explodes and results in the death of 167 workers.^[1]
7 August – Scotland on Sunday newspaper launched.
2 November – Housing (Scotland) Act 1988, receives Royal Assent.
10 November – The Scottish National Party win the Glasgow Govan by-election from Labour with a swing of 33%.
6–10 December – The 1988 European Curling Championships take place in Perth.^[2]
21 December – Pan Am Flight 103 explodes over the town of Lockerbie, Dumfries and Galloway, and kills a total of 270 people – including all 259 on board. It is believed that the cause of the explosion was a terrorist bomb.^[3]

11 February – Marion Crawford, Scottish educator and governess to Princess Margaret and Queen Elizabeth II (born 1909)^[6]
12 April – Harry McShane, socialist (born 1891)
26 August – Oscar Marzaroli, photographer (born 1933 in Italy)

^ "Piper Alpha oil rig ablaze". BBC News. 6 July 1988. Retrieved 2 February 2008.
^ "Olympedia – Olympians Who Won a Medal at the European Curling Championships". www.olympedia.org. Retrieved 4 February 2024.
^ "Jumbo jet crashes onto Lockerbie". BBC News. 21 December 1988. Retrieved 2 February 2008.
^ "Alan Lowing Stats, News, Bio". ESPN. Retrieved 26 April 2020.
^ "Obituary: Chris Mitchell, footballer". www.scotsman.com. Retrieved 26 April 2020.
^ Ewan, Elizabeth; Pipes, Rose; Rendall, Jane; Reynolds, Siân (2018). The new biographical dictionary of Scottish women. pp. 99–100. ISBN 978-1-4744-3628-1.