New Year welcomed around the world

News Desk

3 hours ago

Matthew Tuckerand

Lucy Talavera

Fireworks lit up the midnight sky over Sydney Harbour Bridge and Sydney Opera House during New Year’s Day celebrations in Australia

Countries around the world are welcoming the New Year as midnight strikes from time zone to time zone.

The island of Kiritimati – an atoll in the remote Pacific nation of Kiribati – became the first place to enter 2026. One tourist there told us he marked it “on a beach with no satellites, no signs of human life, complete darkness and countless crabs”.

Spectators in the UK have enjoyed thousands of fireworks light up London skies, while in Edinburgh crowds gathered in true Hogmanay fashion despite weather warnings.

The UK rings in the new year with a spectacular fireworks display over London’s Big Ben

The London Eye is illuminated by the fireworks display in central London

Scotland welcomes 2026 with world-renowned fireworks over Edinburgh Castle

Fireworks light up the sky over the Brandenburg Gate during celebrations in Berlin

Crowds on Champs-Elysees avenue in Paris, France enjoy a light show and fireworks on the Arc de Triomphe

A firework display from the top of Auckland’s Sky Tower welcomed in the New Year

Then Australia lit up the sky over the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge.

In Sydney, celebrations were tempered by sadness as the nation reflected on the Bondi Beach attack on 14 December in which 15 people were killed.

At 23:00 local time, Sydney Harbour fell silent for a minute, with crowds holding lights to remember the victims of Bondi. A Jewish menorah was projected on to the pylons of the Harbour Bridge.

A message reading “Peace, Unity” was projected on the pylon of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, as the city waited for the midnight countdown

In Sydney, New Year’s Eve spectators shone the lights from their mobile phones during a tribute to the victims of the Bondi terror attack

Elsewhere, there were more fireworks at Marina Bay Waterfront in Singapore.

Fireworks matched the brilliance of skyscraper lights in Makati, Metro Manila, Philippines.

Thousands lined the Chao Phraya river in Bangkok as Thailand welcomed the New Year.

In Dubai, people watched fireworks from the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa, following a performance with light displays, music and water jets.

In Hong Kong, spectators enjoyed live performances with fetching headwear.

The Juyongguan Great Wall was lit up in Beijing.

Laser lights dominated the night sky over the Lotte World Tower, South Korea’s tallest building in Seoul.

At the Bosingak pavilion in Seoul, artists performed during the New Year countdown.

A street performer showed off her fiery skills as part of the Procession of Light in Dublin before heading to the Matinee Countdown Concert in Dublin Castle.

In other parts of the world, nations marked the coming New Year with their own traditions.

On a nudist beach in Le Cap d’Agde, southern France, clothed and unclothed revellers took part in a traditional sea dip to mark the New Year’s celebrations.

Swimmers at Islands Brygge Harbour Bath in Copenhagen, Denmark, also braved the cold waters for a traditional splash, known as Nytaarsbad.

In Ommen, the Netherlands, local residents watched the annual carbide shooting – a New Year’s Eve tradition of turning milk cans into cannons.

In Osaka, Japan, young women dressed in traditional kimono took part in a Shinto ritual procession to mark the end of the year at Sumiyoshi Taisha, one of Japan’s oldest Shinto shrines.