Auckland kicks off New Year celebrations to ring in 2018

Auckland kicks off New Year celebrations to ring in 2018



Millions of people around the world are celebrating the start of the new year with elaborate fireworks displays.



Auckland, in New Zealand, was the first major world city to kick off the party followed by Sydney where 1million people were thought to have watched the display over the city's harbour.



A rainbow waterfall plunged off the Harbour Bridge to celebrate recently passed legislation legalizing gay marriage in Australia.



Not to be outdone, Melbourne boasted that it had splashed out to ensure the city's own fireworks display would not be beaten by Sydney.



Thousands of revellers took to the streets near Victoria Harbour in Hong Kong, where an impressive fireworks display lit up the night sky.



Dubai welcomed the New Year in at 20:00 GMT, although the UAE city opted for a world-record breaking lights show on the Burj Khalifa as opposed to fireworks due to 'security reasons'.



A host of European cities, including Paris and Berlin, are expected to have extravagant fireworks displays at 23:00 GMT, while London is an hour later at 00:00 GMT.



Rio de Janerio's display is expected to commence at 02.00 GMT, while New York's display is scheduled for 05:00 GMT. 





In London around 250,000 people are due on the streets amid tight security.