Waiting times at accident and emergency (A&E) wards in Scottish hospitals are at their worst level in nearly two years, according to official statistics.

In the week ending December 1, just 81.2% of A&E patients were either admitted, transferred or discharged within four hours.

The latest weekly statistics also reveal 336 patients spent more than 12 hours in A&E.

The Scottish Government expects NHS Scotland to ensure 95% of patients are seen within a four-hour time frame - but it hasn't met this target since August 2017.

It is the worst set of weekly waiting times figures since the first week of January 2018, when 77.9% of cases were dealt with in four hours.

Almost two years, Scottish ministers blamed a spike in flu rates for the poor A&E performance.

The Scottish Government said the Scottish health service continues to outperform the rest of the UK on A&E waiting times and has this year seen more patients within four weeks than in any year since 2012.

Across Scotland, accident and emergency wards dealt with 27,600 patients in the week ending December 1.

Of those, 952 (3.4%) had to spend more than eight hours in A&E, while 336 (1.2%) were there for 12 hours or longer.

In the NHS Tayside area, 96.2% of patients were dealt with within four hours, but in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde less than three-quarters (74.4%) were seen within the target time.

At the troubled flagship Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow, just 70.5% of A&E patients in A&E were seen within four hours.

A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: "Scotland's core A&E departments continue to be the best performing in the UK and have been for more than four years despite experiencing continued high attendance levels.

"This year we have seen more patients within four hours than in any other year since 2012.

"This is thanks to the ongoing hard work and dedication of our NHS staff who ensure that people get the best care possible.

"We continue to work closely with those health boards facing the greatest challenges to help drive improvements.

"To tackle the particular pressures winter brings, we have invested £10m to help boards put appropriate steps in place to ensure quality of care, patient safety and access to services are maintained over the winter period."

Liberal Democrat health spokesman Alex Cole-Hamilton said: "We are now seeing a two-year low in A&E performance.

"Doctors and nurses are fully stretched. They can't go on like this.

"On this SNP government's watch, this target has not been met for years."