It sounds like an ice way to cool down in summer, but this outdoor skating rink is neither cold nor wet - unless it rains.

Visitors to Our Dynamic Earth in Edinburgh can join in an unseasonable activity made possible by a synthetic skating surface installed outside the attraction.

Set up to tie in with International Polar Year and the Polar Extremes exhibition running at the centre, the environmentally friendly rink, which requires no cooling system or power source, is made up of coated tiles that mimic the smooth gliding motion on ice.

Catriona Cardie, marketing director at Our Dynamic Earth, said: "We decided on this rather novel attraction for the summer as we wanted to be able to offer our visitors an outside activity for the warmer months."

Peter Emmett, managing director of Ice Magic, the company installing the rink, said they were becoming so popular they had even been built on rooftops in Benidorm.

He said: "It is almost impossible to tell the difference with skating on ice once you've been doing it for a while. A few of the professional dancers who tried it were a bit unsure at first but after a few hours on it they were performing full routines, and for novices it's ideal."

With a ticket to Dynamic Earth on the same day it costs £1, without a ticket it costs £3.50 for children and £5.50 for adults.