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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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.
Welcome to The Independent's live blog as New Year's Eve 2017 celebrations get under way across the world.
Clock strikes midnight in New Zealand
New Zealand has welcomed in 2018. Half a tonne of fireworks were set off from Auckland’s Sky Tower as the clock struck midnight at 11am GMT. Preparations for the display reportedly began six months ago to guarantee the coordination of the 3,000 fireworks.
As New Zealand welcomes in 2018, millions of people around the world are kicking off their New Year's Eve celebrations and starting the countdown to midnight.
While the fireworks lighting up Auckland's skies will be the first images of 2018 that many of us will see, the Pacific island nations of Samoa and Kiribati were the first to ring in the new year an hour earlier at 10am GMT.
The remote countries waved goodbye to 2017 a full 25 hours before the new year will begin in American Samoa, an incorporated US territory and the last populated place to usher in 2018. Despite the difference in time zones, American Samoa lies just 100 miles east of Samoa and the two are part of the same archipelago.
There will be fewer police in London for tonight's New Year’s Eve celebrations compared to previous years, despite four serious terror attacks in the capital during 2017.
But a larger number of armed police will be deployed, the Metropolitan Police said.
More than 3,000 armed officers are expected to either patrol streets or operate undercover, although Scotland Yard said there was no “specific threat” to the public.
Tens of thousands of people are expected to attend Edinburgh's Hogmanay celebrations tonight, with organisers saying the event - one of the world's biggest street parties - will be unaffected by the arrival of Storm Dylan earlier today.
Gusts of up to 80mph were forecast to batter parts of Scotland in the first half of 31 December, but warnings are not currently in force for Sunday evening and night.
Edinburgh's celebrations will feature kve music, DJs, street entertainment and fireworks displays from Edinburgh Castle, as well as street performers, dancers, acrobats and fire-eaters.
Rag'n'Bone Man will headline the Concert in the Gardens main stage, while those performing on the three Street Party stages include The Human League, Sacred Paws, Treacherous Orchestra and Huey Morgan.
Police in London will be employing vehicle barriers at tonight's New Year's Eve celebrations. Terrorists have used vehicles to mow down pedestrians in several attacks across the world this year, including twice in the capital in London Bridge and Westminster.
Scotland Yard will also also have more armed officers in attendance than in previous years, although there will be fewer patrols.
Australia celebrates new year
The countdown is over in Sydney, where 2018 has arrived. As many as a million people were expected to watch the world famous fireworks display around the city's harbour.
The huge fireworks display included a rainbow waterfall cascade of lights and colour flowing off the harbour's bridge to celebrate recently passed legislation legalising gay marriage in Australia.
Police in the city tightened security measures ahead of the festivities, including implementing road blocks.
Australia is split into five time zones during its summer, with Western Australia the last region to ring in the new year at 3.15pm GMT.
New Year's Eve is the busiest night of the year for the UK's emergency services, with alcohol-fueled celebrations leading to a surge in 999 calls.
London Ambulance Service (LAS) said it took 7,000 emergency calls on 31 December last year, 2,000 more than a typical day. Extra control room staff, ambulance crews, and support workers have been drafted in to cope with the increase in demand tonight.
LAS has urged Londoners to take care of their friends and only call 999 for genuine emergencies.
Pauline Cranmer, deputy director of operations, said: “A lot of the increase in demand is from party goers who drink so much they have become ill or injured.
“We normally see an increase in demand around 9pm on New Year’s Eve reaching a peak between 1am and 4am on New Year’s Day. We want Londoners to have a great time this New Year but not get so drunk they need our help.
“Too often our ambulance crews can spend much of their night caring for people who are vomiting, violent or unconscious after a night out drinking, leaving our staff unable to respond to other emergencies. Nobody wants to end up in A&E vomiting, injured or unconscious, so please take care of yourselves and your friends.”
Prime Minister Theresa May and Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn today both issued New Year's Eve messages, as is tradition for party leaders.
Ms May said 2018 would bring "renewed confidence and pride" as she sought to heal Brexit divisions and draw a line under a tumultuous 12 months.
The Prime Minister used her video address to hail the “good progress” made in Brexit negotiations, but she also made clear that the EU withdrawal was “not the limit of our ambitions”.
After 12 months marred by division over Europe, terror attacks in London and Manchester, cabinet resignations and a calamitous general election result, Ms May acknowledged that “any year brings its challenges”.
Meanwhile, Mr Corbyn's new year message declared Labour "a government in waiting" after the party increased its share of Westminster seats in May's general election.
He said the UK was being “held back by a self-serving elite who look after themselves and their friends”.
But the Labour leader said his party was "staking out the new centre ground in British politics" and that "the old political consensus was finished".
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