Crowds jeer as stormy Hogmanay turns into a damp squib

Officials across Scotland and northern England defended their decisions to abandon New Year celebrations, leaving tens of thousands of revellers disappointed.

Officials across Scotland and northern England defended their decisions to abandon New Year celebrations, leaving tens of thousands of revellers disappointed.

Atrocious weather on New Year's Eve rendered several major concerts and pyrotechnic displays unsafe. Among the Hogmanay parties to be cancelled was Edinburgh's - for the first time in 11 years. The weather had improved by yesterday morning, but many homes were without electricity throughout the day.Around 100,000 people were estimated to have arrived in the Scottish capital for the Hogmanay celebrations, which were to have culminated in the mass singing of "Auld Lang Syne", broadcast live by the BBC. Early performances by bands went ahead in Princes Street Gardens but as gales gusted up to 48mph, police were told the wind's strength and direction made it unsafe to release fireworks from the castle. The Seven Hills display of 20,000 fireworks, which was to have been televised worldwide, was also cancelled. Amid booing, the £30-a-head sell-out Concert in the Gardens, in which the band Erasure was to have seen the city into 2004, went the same way at 10.15pm, then the street party for 50,000.

By then the main concert stage had sustained structural damage, the awnings had been ripped away and rain had seeped into the electrical wiring. The four stewards suffered minor injuries. Ian Dickinson, Assistant Chief Constable of Lothian and Borders Police, said the damage caused to the stage by the wind was so bad that the roof had to be removed with a forklift truck. "The big screens around the stage [acted] like sails," he said. "[There was ] a very real and serious public safety risk and it was impossible to launch the fireworks in the high winds. We tried to find a way to launch the remaining fireworks on the other sites, but this did not prove possible because of other structural damage."

Many revellers were disgruntled that the party was cancelled at such short notice. Latini Stefano, 42, from Rome, said: "I came to Hogmanay because I know it is a big thing in Scotland, and Edinburgh is one of the most beautiful cities in Europe. I didn't expect this. I can't understand why it was not possible to see beforehand how the rain could affect the event."

Edinburgh awoke yesterday to a bright and clear morning. But between 8,000 and 10,000 homes in the Borders, central Scotland, Tayside, Fife and Highland areas were without power at some stage during the day.

Gale-hit Aberdeen was the first to cancel its celebrations, which were to include a concert by The Waterboys, with an expected audience of 50,000. Aberdeen City Council cancelled the party in Union Street on the advice of emergency services.

In Liverpool, a fireworks display which was expected to attract 10,000 revellers was postponed until today, after forecasts of strong winds, sleet and heavy rain. More than 600 homes at Gisburn in Lancashire were still without electricity yesterday after heavy snow brought down power lines.

In Newcastle and neighbouring Gateshead, predictions of strong winds and snow led to two out of four jointly organised New Year firework displays being cancelled. Yesterday, power failures caused by the weather were affecting many people across the North-east.

Crowds in London took up good vantage points across the Thames from the London Eye - the centrepiece of a fireworks display - and Trafalgar Square. Around 3,000 police officers were on duty, about 500 more than last year, amid fears of a terrorist attack. By 2am yesterday, 30 people had been arrested in central London, out of 100,000 revellers, mainly for drunkenness and public order offences.