THE NUMBER of Glasgow kids who will be spending the festive season homeless has soared by 40 per cent in the last two years.

A staggering 1391 children are expected to be homeless over the holidays, spending both Christmas and New Year in temporary accommodation.

The latest figures show a 40 per cent rise in the number of homeless children in the city compared to the same time in 2014, when there were 998.

In 2015, around 1200 children were homeless over the festive break - 16 per cent less than this year.

Glasgow's homeless children make up around a quarter of Scotland's total, with 5224 kids across the country living in temporary housing.

The increase in cases has been branded “shameful” by a leading homelessness charity boss, who is demanding more affordable homes to be built to help.

Graeme Brown, Director of Shelter Scotland, said:“These figures shame us all. No child should wake up on Christmas morning without a permanent home.

“While those around them will do their best to make it a fun and special day losing a home and being housed in temporary accommodation will take its toll on these children’s chances in life.

“Having a safe and stable home is fundamental to people’s health and wellbeing.

“If we want to see our children thriving we have to free them from uncertain housing circumstances by building more affordable homes.

“Families can spend many weeks, months or even years stuck in temporary accommodation waiting for a house they can call home.”

“Our Homelessness: Far From Fixed campaign is calling for a new national homelessness strategy to improve the safety net and significantly increase new house building to ensure we finally end the shortage of affordable homes. “

Being homeless can have a massive effect on people’s ability to find work, on their mental and physical health and their ability to maintain relationships.

However for children the impact can also be severe, causing developmental problems, psychological damage and difficulties at school.

A Glasgow city council spokesman said: “We have around 1500 furnished flats across the city, which provide a decent standard of temporary accommodation for families and other households at a time of crisis.

“At any one time, 99% of children who are affected by homelessness will be accommodated in one of these temporary furnished flats.

“We work very closely with our partners in the social housing sector to secure sufficient permanent homes for people affected by homelessness.

“We always aim to ensure that any homeless household returns to permanent, mainstream housing as quickly as possible.”