New Year's Eve 2017 as it happened: London Eye illuminated by 12-minute display as celebrations spread across world
Pacific islands of Samoa, Tonga and Kiribati first to say goodbye to 2017 before major events in Auckland, Sydney and Singapore
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Your support makes all the difference.New Year’s Eve celebrations rolled their way around the world before the UK welcomed 2018 with a massive 12-minute fireworks display over the London Eye.
Thousands also marked Hogmanay in Edinburgh, braving warnings of stormy weather.
Samoa, a tiny pacific island, welcomed the new year at 10am GMT, followed by New Zealand an hour later.
In Australia, 2018 arrived at 1pm GMT with as many as one million people watching Sydney harbour’s world famous fireworks.
North Korea’s Pyongyang display outshone that of Japan half an hour earlier. But both were dwarfed by a 10-minute extravaganza on Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbour.
Whatsapp went down as India celebrated its New Year, prompting thousands to complain they could not send messages to friends and family.
Dubai shunned the more conventional fireworks display in favour of a colourful light show that illuminated the side of the iconic Burj Khalifa skyscraper.
The last places on Earth to greet the new year will be US islands such as Baker Island and Howland Island, where 2018 will arrive at noon GMT on 1 January.
Rail strikes are causing disrupting to New Year’s Eve rail services, with passengers facing widespread delays and cancellations.
Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union on South Western Railway (SWR) and CrossCountry have walked out over a long-running battles relating to guards, rosters and Sunday working.
The union said members at both companies were solidly supporting the industrial action.
The SWR strike is expected to impact services in and out of London’s Waterloo station, which is one of the capital’s busiest hubs and is used by many of the thousands of spectators who attend the fireworks display at the nearby London Eye.
SWR warned passengers to expect reduced services and said the trains that run "are likely to be exceptionally busy".
RMT general secretary Mike Cash said members were striking over "fundamental issues of public safety, security and access".
He added: "No staff on trains, combined with no staff on the stations, will be a toxic mix for passengers at the locations we have identified which will increasingly become crime hot spots and no-go areas for vulnerable passengers, while drivers will also be alone and exposed."
No CrossCountry trains are running on routes including Edinburgh to Glasgow and Cambridge to Stansted Airport, with services limited on other lines.
Freezing temperatures will usher in a cold start to the new year in parts of the US, as record lows hit the Midwest and put a damper on New Year’s Eve celebrations.
In New York‘s Times Square, temperatures are expected to hover around -12C, but celebrations will go ahead as planned. Hundreds of thousands of people are making the annual pilgrimage to watch an annual ball drop that marks midnight (5am GMT.)
They have been advised to wrap up warm, with the wind chill factor tipped to make temperatures feel more like make it feel like -18C, according to the National Weather Service.
But elsewhere in the US, Arctic temperatures are causing celebrations to falter.
In Omaha, Nebraska, temperatures are expected to dip to -22C on New Year’s Eve, with organisers postponing a planned fireworks display.
Skipping the fireworks and parties in favour of your sofa and telly? Here are our are New Year's Eve TV picks. Featuring, of course, this man:
Las Vegas is preparing for its first New Year's Eve since the Mandalay Bay shooting on 1 October, when Stephen Paddock shot more than 50 people dead and wounded hundreds of others.
Security will be tighter than ever before, encompassing federal intelligence teams, helicopters, and rooftop snipers. More than 5,000 police officers will also be posted on the city's strip, where 330,000 visitors are expected.
The massacre has also prompted authorities in other US cities to reconsider preparations.
Japan rings in new year
The clock has struck midnight in Japan.
Many Japanese celebrated the arrival of the Year of the Dog in the traditional way of praying for peace and good fortune at neighborhood Shinto shrines, and eating New Year's food such as noodles, shrimp and sweet black beans.
Barbecued beef and octopus dumpling stalls were out at Tokyo's Zojoji Temple, where people take turns striking the giant bell 108 times at midnight, an annual practice repeated at other Buddhist temples throughout Japan.
After the new year countdown, many people dressed up as foxes to parade from Shozoku Shrine to nearby Oji Inari Shrine in Tokyo.
North Korea's nuclear and missile programs cast a shadow over Japan's hopes for peace in 2018, said 33-year-old cab driver Masaru Eguchi, who was ready to be busy all night shuttling shrine visitors.
"The world situation has grown so complex," Mr Eguchi told the Associated Press, adding that he also worried about possible terrorism targeting Japan. "I feel this very abstracted sense of uncertainty, although I really have no idea what might happen."
North Korea sees in new year
At half past the hour, the isolationist nation celebrated the beginning of 2018.
The North created its own time zone in 2015, breaking away from Japan and South Korea.
At the time, state news agency KCNA said “wicked Japanese imperialists” had “deprived Korea of its standard time” when it changed the clocks during occupation.
The Korean peninsula used to be 8.5 hours ahead of GMT until Japan colonised it in 1910.
China, Hong Kong, the Philippines and Singapore welcome 2018
Hong Kong hosted a garish display accompanied by perky music across Victoria Harbour, which is known for its colorful light shows.
Hong Kong's extravagant display lasted at least ten minutes. The fireworks were accompanied by a raucous version of Auld Lang Syne.
Thailand, Indonesia, Cambodia and Vietnam celebrate new year
Bangkok marked midnight with an extravagant fireworks display after ban on pyrotechnics was temporarily lifted by the Thai junta earlier this week.
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha issued an order permitting fireworks between 11pm and 1am to "allow celebrations of the new year, which will promote tourism".
The country's National Council for Peace and Order banned fireworks in June, with breaches punishable with jail terms of up to three years.
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