New Year's 2019 Celebrations From Around The World

Sydney

Sydney’s world-famous Opera House was lit up by a spectacular fireworks display to see in 2019.

Millions witnessed the extravaganza of light and sound at the stroke of midnight local time (1300 GMT).

Dozens of pyrotechnics erupted from the city’s Harbour Bridge, with breathtaking aerial shots showing the scale of the celebrations.

The spectacular display took over Sydney's famous Harbour Bridge.

Hundreds of boats lined the harbour to watch the festivities.

The Opera House was illuminated during the display.

Millions celebrated the New Year by observing a spectacular fireworks display.

An hours-long fireworks show had preceded midnight in the city.

Auckland

It came after New Zealand welcomed 2019 with a glorious fireworks display which erupted from the top of Auckland’s 328-metre-tall Sky Tower.

Thousands of revellers on the city’s waterfront watched brightly coloured fireworks and laser lighting shooting into the night sky over the harbour.

The Sky Tower show – featuring 500 kilograms of pyrotechnics – is the highest fireworks display in the southern hemisphere, according to Auckland’s council.

And for the first time, Auckland’s harbour bridge was lit up by special lights.

Pyrotechnics erupt from Auckland's Sky Tower as thousands of revellers welcome 2019.

Samoa and Tonga

Samoa and Tonga in the South Pacific Ocean were among the first nations to see in the New Year.

Meanwhile, photographs from other nations showed local celebrations.

Jarkata, Indonesia, sees in the New Year.

The Solana Lights Festival is held at the Solana Shopping Mall in Beijing, China.

Schoolchildren in Ahmedabad, India, pose as part of celebrations to welcome the new year.

A swimming group in Vladivostok, Russia, sees out the old year with a very cold dip in iced waters at Yubileiny beach.

Dubai

The UAE rang in the New Year on Tuesday (January 1) with a colourful light show and firework display centred on the iconic Burj Khalifa in Dubai.

The fireworks display was suspended last year due to “security concerns” at the tallest building in the world, moving instead to the Palm Jumeirah, an artificial archipelago extending into the Persian Gulf.

Moscow

Revellers enjoy during New Year celebrations in Moscow’s Red Square, Russia.

President Vladimir Putin called for unity across Russia in a New Year’s addressed televised on December 1.

Putin said that the country had to create a brighter future through its own united effort, highlighting “problems” in the spheres of the economy, science, technology, healthcare and culture.

The New Year’s address was broadcast to Russia’s Far East regions many hours before Moscow, when it is typically shown minutes before midnight.

Athens

Fireworks explode over the ancient Parthenon temple atop the Acropolis hill during New Year’s day celebrations in Athens.

Paris

Paris celebrates New Year on Les Champs Elysees with a light show and fireworks at the Arc de Triomphe.

London

The words “London is open” rang in the new year as the capital welcomed 2019 with a dazzling riverside fireworks display.

The phrase was spoken in seven languages around two minutes past midnight as the city skyline filled with lights in the largest annual display in Europe.

A soundtrack featuring Europe’s finest musical artists celebrated the diversity of the capital, after Big Ben, silent for much of 2018 due to renovations, chimed once more.