New Year’s Eve – live: New Year celebrated across world amid new UK weather warning and cancelled events

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About a million people packed Times Square Tuesday night to watch the ball drop on New Year’s Eve as well as performances by Rita Ora and Carrie Underwood, among several others.

The weather was mild before the rain began to fall in New York as crowds poured into the square, with one reveler telling CBS News he had arrived at 6 a.m. to get a good view of the ball drop.

“We just came from Japan all the way here just to see this, just to feel the crowd,” another told the network.

The ball drop, which began 114 years ago, features a 12,000-pound ball made of 2,500 chrystals.

Iget it. It’s been a very long year.

Crowds sheltered under umbrellas to watch fireworks and enjoy entertainment in Manchester, but the weather curtailed celebrations elsewhere.

Fireworks displays in Blackpool, Newcastle, Ripon in North Yorkshire and the Isle of Wight were all axed.

Thousands of people saw in 2025 on the banks of the River Thames as London defied weather concerns with a spectacular firework display.

The weather forced outdoor celebrations in Edinburgh and other places across the UK to be cancelled, but London’s annual display went ahead in clear skies.

After Big Ben marked the start of the new year, the 11-minute display began with the message “Your New Year Is Unwritten”.

To a diverse soundtrack covering the likes of Vera Lynn, Sir Elton John, Travis, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, One Direction and Charli XCX with voiceovers from people including Dame Imelda Staunton and Sir Ian McKellen, the celebration looked back at 2024 with topics including the weather, the Paris Olympics and Paralympics, Euro 2024.

The celebration doubled as a 25th birthday party for the London Eye, which provided the centre point for the fireworks, with the message to “honour our history and never give up hope for our future”.

The mayor’s office said around 100,000 ticketholders had attended the display, which included more than 12,000 fireworks and 420 lights.

Declaring that London will “always be a city of hope and place for everyone”, the display ended with a message from Paddington Bear that “anyone can fit in” in London before a version of Auld Lang Syne by Boney M.

The show was organised by the Mayor of London, Sir Sadiq Khan, who had declared it the “biggest fireworks taking place anywhere across Europe”.

He said: “It’s fantastic to welcome 2025 with our biggest and best-ever New Year’s Eve celebrations.

“From honouring the heroes of the D-Day landings to Paddington Bear celebrating our capital’s diversity, I’m proud that we sent a message of hope and love to the world, as we build a better London for everyone.”

Countries in the South Pacific Ocean are the first to ring in the New Year, with midnight in New Zealand striking 18 hours before the ball drop in Times Square in New York.

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The UK is set to be battered with wind and rain to start 2025.

Met Office weather warnings are in place across parts of England, Wales and Scotland on New Year’s Day.

This includes an amber alert for heavy rain that has been put in place across parts of North-West England until 9am, stretching from Settle in the Yorkshire Dales across to Preston and down to parts of the Peak District. It states that heavy rainfall is “likely to lead to disruption including flooding in some locations” with a chance some places could see more than 10cm of rain.

The forecaster warned of difficult driving conditions, “danger to life” flooding, potential road closures and transport delays. There may also be power cuts.

Meanwhile, winds of up to 60mph are forecast across much of England and Wales all day on Wednesday, with gusts of 75mph likely around coastal areas and hills, according to the Met Office.

This could lead to travel delays, damage to buildings, power cuts, and even danger from flying debris or large waves, the forecaster said.

Some roads and bridges may close, and injuries could occur, particularly in coastal areas.

Rain turning to snow on New Year’s Day is likely to cause travel disruption, particularly on roads and railways across Grampian, Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Moray, and the Highlands & Eilean Siar, the Met Office said.

London’s fireworks display has begun.

Huge crowds have gathered at the Embankment under Big Ben.

Revellers will be relieved the display is going ahead after there were fears the bad weather would disrupt or even force the cancellation of the event.

It is officially 2025 in the UK.

Fireworks can be heard exploding across the country as Big Ben chimes midnight.

The new year is fast approaching, with just a couple of minutes left of 2024…