New Year’s Eve: Parties in full swing across the world as first nation sees in 2026 – live updates

Celebrations are well and truly underway in New Zealand where it is officially 2026.

In Auckland, revellers watched the final countdown on the city’s Sky Tower before a fireworks display greeted the moment the clock struck midnight.

We’re just 10 minutes away from the clocks chiming midnight in New Zealand as it becomes the first major country to welcome 2026.

Fireworks will light up the skies across the nation including at Auckland’s Sky Tower and over Wellington Harbour.

You can watch live scenes from Auckland above

Fireworks have lit up the skies above Sydney with the first of two displays in the Australian city.

The first display, known as family fireworks, took place near Sydney Harbour Bridge three hours before the main one at midnight.

Here in Britain, we have more than 13 hours left of 2025 as the final countdown approaches in capital cities across the globe.

If you want to know when the rest of the world is ringing in 2026 then see our list below.

All UK times:

• 11am – Wellington and Auckland
• 1pm – Sydney and Melbourne
• 3pm – Tokyo, Seoul and Pyongyang
• 4pm – Beijing, Singapore and Hong Kong
• 5pm – Bangkok, Jakarta and Hanoi
• 6:30pm – New Delhi
• 8pm – Dubai
• 10pm – Cairo, Athens and Johannesburg
• 11pm – Paris, Rome and Madrid

A snow and ice warning has been issued for London as the New Year brings an artic freeze that has already seen temperatures plummet to nearly -10C.

Large swathes of the UK have been told to brace for wintry conditions and travel disruption from midnight until 12pm on Friday.

The Met Office issued a total of four new yellow weather warnings on Wednesday – with snow forecast across parts of the south east, London, Birmingham and Wales.

A 12-hour wind warning is now in place in north-east Scotland from 9pm tonight, as well as a snow and ice warning in Northern Ireland on Friday.

A 42-hour warning for heavy snow showers and ice in Scotland had already been issued from 6am on New Year’s Day until the end of January 2.

Sydney’s famous harbour is fast filling up as crowds flock to the city’s iconic landmarks to see in 2026.

People have gathered outside the Sydney Opera House and taken up vantage viewpoints at Mrs Macquaries Point as the city approaches 2026.

In Sydney, the clock strikes midnight at 1pm UK time.

Kiribati, an island nation in Oceania, is the first country to welcome 2026.

The nation is the furthest time zone behind Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) – 14 hours ahead of the UK.

Kiribati is made up of 33 atolls and islands in the Pacific Ocean and is unique as it is the only nation with terrirtory in all four of the world’s hemispheres.

Kiritimati, otherwise known as Christmas Island, was the first part of the country to ring in the new year.

Hello and welcome to our New Year’s Eve live coverage as people around the world ring in the start of 2026.

We will bring you celebrations from across the globe as the final hours of 2025 come to an end.

So whether you’re in Britain, Asia or Australia, check our blog to see how countries start the new year.