Millions Celebrate as UK Welcomes the New Year
The UK rings in 2026 with massive fireworks, Hogmanay celebrations, and nationwide parties as millions gather despite snow and ice warnings.
Millions of people across the UK officially welcomed the new year, gathering at fireworks displays and parties nationwide.
In London, 12,000 fireworks were set off in the city's biggest ever display, watched by 100,000 people along the banks of the River Thames.
Edinburgh Castle was illuminated by six minutes of carefully choreographed pyrotechnics, surrounded by thousands of people attending the famous Hogmanay street party.
The new year has brought with it colder weather, with snow and ice forecast for much of the UK.
A yellow warning for snow and ice has been issued for northern Scotland from 06:00 GMT on Friday until the end of Friday.
On January 2nd, another yellow warning for snow and ice has been issued for large parts of England and Wales between midnight and midday, stretching south to London and Kent.
As Big Ben's iconic midnight chimes rang out across London, the London Eye was the centrepiece of Europe's largest fireworks display, which celebrated some of the highlights of 2025.
The soundtrack included Raye, Sabrina Carpenter, Ed Sheeran and Coldplay, and featured voiceovers from stars such as Celia Imrie, Andrew Cotter and Alison Hammond.
The show acknowledged England's women's Rugby World Cup win, as well as the Lionesses' victory at the Euros and Cynthia Erivo's performance in Wicked: For Good.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan described the show as the world's most "spectacular," and wrote on X that the city's New Year's celebrations had a clear message about the "importance of unity."
Other celebrations took place across the country, from Belfast to Cardiff, Manchester and Newcastle.
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Edinburgh celebrated its first official festivities since 2024, when organisers were forced to cancel the Hogmanay celebrations due to "adverse weather." This year, approximately 45,000 people attended the sold-out street party to welcome 2026, with some of the fireworks used having been saved from last year's cancelled event.
The spectacular show was accompanied by a soundtrack featuring some of Scotland's biggest artists, including Lewis Capaldi and Simple Minds, and it concluded with a version of Auld Lang Syne by the Skye duo Valtos. Cheryl and Terry Brown from Liverpool were among those enjoying the festivities in the Scottish capital, making the most of the city's four-day celebration with their seven-year-old son, Oliver.
"We did this a few years ago and we just had to come back," Terry said. He explained that the family had celebrated in Belfast and London in previous years, but the party atmosphere in Edinburgh keeps them coming back.
And they weren't alone. Two friends from New Jersey in the US, Cosimo and Neil, had travelled specifically to Edinburgh to welcome 2026.
"The dancing, the people, the energy, the vibe – it's the best way to bring in the new year," Neil said.
Cosimo added that the pair have made travelling for New Year's a regular occurrence, but said the energy of Edinburgh's street party is "a thousand times better" than watching the famous ball drop in Times Square in New York.
Celebrations also took place across the rest of the world. Japan and South Korea marked the occasion with bell-ringing ceremonies in their capitals, while Australians celebrated with a spectacular fireworks display in Sydney.
Rio de Janeiro's Copacabana Beach was also lit up by a massive series of fireworks, with organizers hoping to break their 2024 Guinness World Record for the largest New Year's Eve celebration. Aboard the RRS Sir David Attenborough, stationed in Antarctica, the crew and science teams rang the ship's bell to welcome the new year.
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