The UK has celebrated the new year with firework displays and street parties for the first time fully since the beginning of the Covid pandemic.
Despite wet weather, partygoers were undeterred and took to the streets to usher in 2023.
London’s firework display, which featured a tribute to the late Queen, attracted more than 100,000 people.
And in Edinburgh, the world-famous Hogmanay street party was enjoyed by more than 30,000 people.
As Big Ben’s chimes began, drones took shape in the sky to help the crowd count down to midnight, before London’s famous skyline exploded into colour with a barrage of fireworks to welcome in the new year.
The sold-out show in the capital, set to music, paid tribute to the late Queen – with more drones forming the shape of a crown in the sky, before transforming into the shape of ER II and then the familiar image of her face in profile on a huge coin.
The display also featured a voice recording from the late Queen and words from Dame Judi Dench. It then went on to honour King Charles with a message about the need to preserve our planet’s future.
Other highlights included highlighting the Lionesses’ history-making Euro win at Wembley and 50 years of London’s Pride with a message from Peter Tatchell from the Gay Liberation Front.
There was a message of support for Ukraine with blue and yellow fireworks and the London Eye lit up in the colours of the country’s flag, sound-tracked by the Ukrainian Eurovision winner Kalush Orchestra.
Other music heard during the display included hits from Stormzy, Calvin Harris, Rihanna, Kylie Minogue and Madness, before it finished with the traditional Auld Lang Syne.
Thousands of acts from the USA, UK and Europe are taking part in London’s New Year’s Day parade this afternoon – the first without restrictions because of Covid. The event features cheerleaders, brass bands and costumed performers.
Its founder Bob Bone told the BBC the parade would be “bigger and better than ever before”, adding that “it’s fantastic to be back”.
Organisers of the sold-out Hogmanay street party in Edinburgh said it was back in its “rightful home” after the coronavirus pandemic.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon described it as the “first full Hogmanay celebrations in three years”.
In a new year message on Twitter, she wrote: “Thinking back to Hogmanay last year and indeed the year before that, we’re reminded of just how far we have come from the very darkest days of the pandemic.”
Fireworks lit up Edinburgh’s Castle and The Pet Shop Boys headlined the event in Princes Street Gardens.
The street party, which has previously offered 60,000 spaces, was scaled back to just 30,000 tickets.
In Cardiff, families partied in the city’s Winter Wonderland, while people in Belfast celebrated at Europa Hotel’s annual Gala Ball.
But elsewhere, one new year celebration did not take place as a result of an arctic walrus being spotted on the coast.
The walrus was discovered in Scarborough’s town harbour on New Year’s Eve and the council decided to cancel its show after warnings it could cause distress to the animal.
In a village further down the coast in East Yorkshire, re-enactors took part in the Flamborough Fire Festival in a Viking-themed parade.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak released a video message on social media marking the new year, in which he said he was confident “better times lie ahead” and he wanted people to feel “hopeful” going into 2023.
“I may have only had the job for several weeks at this point, but actually I feel good about the future,” he said.
“I feel positive about the change that we can bring so that we can improve everyone’s lives, so that we can deliver the peace of mind that people are looking for in the here and now.”
Mr Sunak’s video address struck a more upbeat tone than an earlier message when he said the UK’s problems will not go away in 2023.
BBC
