Harry Sekulich
Reporting from Sydney

Image source, BBC/ Harry Sekulich

Joe and Lucy, who are from near Newcastle in the UK, timed their trip around Australia so they could see in the New Year with the iconic Sydney Harbour Bridge fireworks - clocks strike midnight here at 13:00 GMT.

They were in Melbourne when the deadly Bondi shooting occurred and were unsure whether to continue on to Sydney. Relatives at home asked on multiple occasions “are you sure you still want to go?”

“We had our worries about coming for New Year’s Eve” Joe says, “but we were reading more recently in the news saying that how more police were going to be here, it would be a bit safer”.

Kris Liu also feels reassured by the increased number of police in the area. She says the Bondi attack was very “sad” but it did not deter her travel plans.

Image source, BBC/ Harry Sekulich

Thousands have queued up throughout the day to get the best spots of the harbour - some have camped overnight next to the Sydney Opera House.

Natalia Williams, visiting from New Zealand, tells the BBC she arrived at 07:00 (20:00 GMT) to get the best view of the Harbour Bridge for the midnight show.

“It’s worth the wait,” she says. Around 50 vantage points have been set up, dotted along the harbour for views of the 21:00 and midnight fireworks displays. Half a dozen were full by 15:00 local time.

Image source, Reuters

Hafsa Khalil
Live reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Among those marking the new year in around 40 minutes' time is the east coast of Australia - including one of the country's largest cities, Sydney.

Thousands of heavily armed police officers are patrolling the streets there as people mark the new year - a rare and stark sight in the city, following the Bondi Beach mass shooting earlier this month.

Some officers can be seen carrying high-grade weapons as part of heightened security measures following the attack, which targeted Australia's Jewish community and killed 15 people. It was the country's deadliest shooting since 1996.

New South Wales (NSW) Police say more than 2,500 police personnel will be on duty tonight, with many of them armed.

Ahead of the celebrations, NSW Premier Chris Minns said police would be "out in massive numbers, in some cases carrying firearms and weapons that you haven't seen before".

New Year's Eve parties in the city also paused at 23:00 local time (12:00 GMT) for a minute's silence to commemorate the victims of the attack.

• Read more: Heavy police presence in Sydney for New Year's celebrations after Bondi attack

Image source, EPA

Back here in the UK, and if you're planning on heading out to celebrate the new year, expect some chilly conditions.

Parts of the country will fall below freezing as 2026 begins - and the cold spell is likely to last over a week, with amber cold health alerts issued across the whole of England by the UK's Health Security Agency until midday on 6 January.

• Read more about the Arctic blast coming to the UK

Jacob Phillips
Live reporter

Image source, Suva Bowling Club

The clock strikes midnight in Fiji (12:00 GMT), and 2026 is under way!

It’s a full house at the Suva Bowling Club in the south-east of the island, as people celebrate next to the ocean surrounded by palm trees.

Litia Tikoisuva is at the lawn club alongside friends and fellow bowlers and enjoying the fireworks going off in the neighbouring Albert Park.

“Maybe 200 people are calling in 2026 here,” she says. “We wanted to be awake at midnight to welcome [the new year]. It’s very warm. Around 28-30C but it’s pleasant.”

Adults and children alike are celebrating using “bamboo guns”, filling up sticks and spraying each other with water.

As we hit midday in the UK, many more countries are seeing in the new year.

Fiji is among them - we'll have more on how some in the capital Suva are celebrating in our next post.

Others in the Pacific are too, including the Marshall Islands, Tuvalu and Nauru. Parts of Russia are also taking the leap into 2026.

Jacob Phillips
Live reporter

Image source, Andy Corson

Andy Corson is among those who have already celebrated the new year, with clocks turning midnight around 50 minutes ago.

He has been watching the fireworks go off from his balcony in the Bay of Islands - one of the most northern parts of New Zealand.

His new puppy Jess, who is a cross between a springer spaniel and a labrador, has just experienced her first new years celebration and has loved watching all the fireworks going off, Andy says.

"2025 was a little bit of a tough year for a lot of people around the world but in 2026 feels more optimistic," he tells me.

"We had some pretty ordinary weather but it is beautifully clear now."

Image source, Andy Corson

Katy Scott
BBC Scotland news

Image source, Getty Images

It's nearing midday in the UK, which means preparations for tonight's New Year's Eve festivities are well under way.

Edinburgh has a long history of celebrations, and its streets are usually packed after midnight. On Monday it began with a torchlight procession, followed by a series of concerts on Tuesday.

But tonight’s street party is the highlight of Hogmanay, where tens of thousands of revellers are expected to descend on an outdoor party in the city centre with live music, DJs and street theatre.

At midnight, around 10,000 fireworks will light up the sky above Edinburgh Castle as partygoers link arms and sing Robert Burns' Auld Lang Syne.

And on New Year’s Day, brave swimmers will don their fancy dress for the Loony Dook - a hangover-clearing dip in the bracing waters of the Firth of Forth.

Nabiha Ahmed
Live reporter

Image source, Bryant Dunn

Earlier, US businessman Bryant Dunn told us he and his partner would be entering 2026 on a remote beach in Kiritimati - the first place in the world to welcome in the new year.

He now has a message from the other side:

"2026 has begun! Although the human race faces many challenges across the globe, there are myriad reasons to be hopeful," he says.

"Here on Kiritimati, where the waves break only meters from our homes amid rising sea levels...the promise of a brighter day - and a healthier world - resounds."

Katie Williams
Live reporter

Image source, Paul Johansson

It's just gone midnight in Tonga, and I've spoken to Paul Johansson, who owns Kongakava Hotel in the capital Nuku'alofa.

In a spiritual message, Johansson wishes everyone a happy new year.

"From all of us at the Kongakava Hotel, we farewell the year through Po le’o, as churches across Tonga gather in thanksgiving and praise to God.

“As [one of the first nations] to welcome the New Year, we give thanks for His grace and faithfulness. May the year ahead be filled with peace, hope, and blessing.”

We've been hearing from you about how you're celebrating the new year.

Morgan Browne is part of a group of "three Kiwis and three UK citizens celebrating NYE in Auckland NZ".

"It’s been raining all day but the sky has cleared to welcome in fireworks at midnight from the Sky Tower," they say.

As the clock strikes midnight (11:00 GMT), New Zealand, Samoa, Tonga and Tokelau - a dependent territory of New Zealand - welcome 2026!

You can watch live the scene from Auckland, New Zealand, as celebrations begin with a fireworks display.

Nabiha Ahmed
Live reporter

Image source, Izaak Kirkbeck

"Imagine the Lake District but the sun's always shining."

That's how Harry Gorringe describes Wanaka, south New Zealand, where he is spending New Year's Eve.

Harry runs an annual festival called Rhythm and Alps, where attendees will be entering the new year to the soundtrack of dance music played by a New Zealand-based orchestra, SYNTHONY.

"Music brings people together, it's what ties the knot between us," Harry tells me.

"Spending today surrounded by music sets a tone of togetherness for the year to come," he says.

As thousands gather for the midnight countdown at the festival, Harry says he'll be happy to be at "one of the most beautiful places in the world".

Nabiha Ahmed
Live reporter

Image source, SAILS RESTAURANT AND BAR

With midnight quickly approaching in Samoa, families are gathered in the capital Apia to traditionally welcome 2026.

That includes at Sails Restaurant and Bar, where people will celebrate with 'Ava' - or kava - a traditional drink reserved for celebrations.

It will be served in a traditional cup, and attendees will share the drink whilst they 'patipati' - clap and applaud.

Lyvia Black, who manages Sails, tells me that new years celebration mark a time of renewal in Samoan culture.

"It is about gathering families together, giving thanks to the past year and anticipating divine guidance for the year to come," says Lyvia.

Image source, AFP via Getty Images

As we've been reporting, so far a few islands in the Pacific have started seeing in 2026 - and in around 30 minutes or so, New Zealand, Tonga and Samoa will be joining them too.

While we wait for celebrations there to get under way, here's a look at how countries across the globe celebrate the new year.

Big displays

Fireworks are a pretty universal way to do so. Big displays take place across the world as midnight sets in, from Sydney Harbour in Australia to Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Smashing plates

One of Denmark’s traditions is to smash plates on your friends' doorsteps, which the Danish say will bring them good luck over the next 12 months.

In the US, people in New York count down to the Times Square ball drop - when a glittery ball moves down a flag pole, reaching the bottom as the clock strikes midnight.

Great grapes

People in Vincennes, Indiana, were known for dropping watermelons from a giant "watermelon" - although the tradition seems to have been discontinued in recent years.

Staying with the fruit theme, head to Spain and grapes will be your midnight snack of choice. It’s their tradition to eat one grape each time the clock strikes at midnight - so 12 grapes in quick succession - hoping for 12 lucky months in the year ahead.

Bell ringing (and ringing... and ringing)

Ringing bells is another tradition for some in Japan and South Korea. In Japan, bells are rung 108 times - making for a noisy start to the year.

Lots of legumes

Lentils symbolise tidings of good fortune in the new year for those in Brazil, so many there will eat plenty of them as part of their celebrations.

And some people celebrate the new year at a different time - in some cases because they use a different calendar.

Nabiha Ahmed
Live reporter

The 600-odd people who live on New Zealand's Chatham Island (GMT +13:45) have become the next group to welcome 2026!

About a sixth of the population of the remote archipelago - mainly locals - are spending the last moments of 2025 at Hotel Chatham's bar, its owner says.

But Toni Croon, who owns the hotel, tells me not everyone is staying up until the clock strikes midnight.

"Our team will be up 'til daylight, but us oldies will be gone," she says.

It will be the youngsters on the island, Toni predicts, who'll have the willpower to stay up and watch this year's first sunrise - in about six hours.

"What unites all of us is the love we have for this place. We'll always have that in common," says Toni.

"It's special to welcome 2026 in such a remote and isolated place."

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

The island of Kiritimati is welcoming in the new year - the first place in the world do so.

It's part of the Pacific Ocean nation Kiribati, located south of Hawaii and north-east of Australia. It is made up of several atolls - ring-shaped coral reefs - and spans almost 4,000km from east to west.

Kiribati - pronounced Kiribass - became independent from the United Kingdom in 1979. Home to the South Pacific's largest marine reserve, many of the atolls are inhabited; most of them are very low-lying and at risk from rising sea levels as a result of global warming.

The archipelago has a population of about 116,000. Despite being almost directly south of Hawaii, Kiribati celebrates New Year a whole day earlier.

The atoll Kiritimati - also known as Christmas Island - has officially welcomed in 2026, becoming the first place in the world to do so!

Other parts of the Pacific nation of Kiribati will see in the new year over the next few hours.

Nabiha Ahmed
Live reporter

Image source, Bryant Dunn

Whilst many across the world wait hours until the clock strikes midnight, one atoll in Kiribati is already just minutes away from welcoming 2026.

Kiritimati (GMT+14), also known as Christmas Island, is known as the first place in the world to celebrate the new year.

Bryant Dunn, a fly fishing businessman from the US, is celebrating the new year there with his partner Waata Binoka Randolph - who was born and raised in Kiritimati.

"We will be celebrating 2026 on a beach with no satellites, no signs of human life, complete darkness and countless crabs," Bryant tells me.

"We are very happy to celebrate in tranquillity because we want this to be the theme of 2026."

In a few hours, Bryant will also be taking part in a community celebration, where a small group of locals will gather to watch the first sun rise of the new year.

"We will stand on the beach, a celebration that does lead to hope as the new year comes our way," he says.

Image source, DAN HIMBRECHTS/EPA

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