New year: Fireworks and street parties as UK celebrates start of 2023
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 remained undeterred and took to the streets to usher in 2023.
More than 100,000 people gathered in London for the fireworks display which paid tribute to the late Queen.
And in Edinburgh, the world-famous Hogmanay street party attracted more than 30,000 party-goers to the city.
It was the first time since 2019 that people gathered along the Thames Embankment to watch the 12-minute firework display in London, which the city’s mayor Sadiq Khan said was the biggest in Europe.
As Big Ben rang out to mark the new year, London’s famous skyline exploded into colour with a barrage of fireworks.
The sold-out show in the capital, set to music, 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.
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The show was designed to send a message of “love and unity”, as it highlighted the Lionesses’ history-making Euro win at Wembley, marked 50 years of Pride in London with a message from Peter Tatchell from the Gay Liberation Front, and sent a message of support to Ukraine.
Music from the display included hits from Stormzy, Calvin Harris, Rihanna and finished with the traditional Auld Lang Syne.
Last year, a smaller display with drones had been broadcast near London’s landmarks.