Key events
Once you get through tonight – especially if like me you are at home and have the TV on – there is the small matter of wondering what 2024 has in store for you to watch. If you’d like a peruse of our suggestions, then Stuart Heritage and Kate Abbott have got you covered with our guide to the 50 must-see TV shows for 2024.
Oh and yes, if you are wondering, I will be having Eve of the Daleks on in the background later this evening. I only gave it three stars when I reviewed it at the time, which seems a bit harsh, as it has now firmly become a regular part of my New Year’s Eve routine.
Nepal is one of those countries who time zone is offset by 15 minutes rather than being on the hour or half hour, so they entered the new year 15 minutes before India did, and are already half-an-hour into 2024. It is almost like time travel on this blog. Earlier today there was a parade in Kathmandu by the indigenous Gurung community as part of the Tamu Lhoshar festival.
Tributes have been paid today because, as well as being New Year’s Eve, it is also the first anniversary of the death of Pope Benedict XVI.
Pope Francis praised his love and wisdom, while Benedict’s former private secretary expressing hope he might one day be declared a saint.
Benedict, the first pope to retire in six centuries, died last 31 December at the age of 95 in the Vatican monastery where he spent 10 years as a pope emeritus. He is buried in the grottoes underneath St. Peter’s Basilica.
Associated Press reports that speaking at the end of his weekly noon blessing, Francis said the faithful feel “so much love, so much gratitude, so much admiration” for Benedict. He praised the “love and wisdom” with which Benedict guided the church and asked for a round of applause from the pilgrims and tourists gathered in St Peter’s Square.
The pope also commented on the suffering of people experiencing conflict around the world, offering prayers for “the tormented Ukrainian people and the Palestinian and Israeli populations, the Sudanese people and many others,” and saying “At the end of the year, we will have the courage to ask ourselves how many human lives have been shattered by armed conflict, how many dead and how much destruction, how much suffering, how much poverty. Whoever has interest in these conflicts, listen to the voice of conscience.”
It has just gone midnight in India, and here are some of the pictures sent earlier over the news wires of people celebrating there.
Hong Kong is also a city that always puts on a spectacular show to welcome the new year, and this year is no exception, with a laser show over Victoria harbour.
Met Office warns wind and rain could spoil New Year’s Eve celebrations in UK
I should point out at this moment that if, like me, you are in the UK, there are some weather warnings in place which might affect your plans for the evening. Revellers have been urged to pack a rain jacket for the countdown to 2024.
PA Media reports that the Met Office has said exposed coasts and hills on the southern coast of England and in south Wales will continue to be battered by strong winds
Meteorologist Jonathan Vautrey said showers in these areas will start to “band up”, becoming more frequent:
There’s potential for 10-20mm widely, and 30-40mm in some areas over the 12-hour period. It has been quite wet so the ground is already saturated. We could see some difficult driving conditions for those who are out and about for New Year’s Eve. Some bus and train services could be affected.
For most other parts of the UK, the rain will be less persistent but the threat of showers during the countdown to the new year remains.
Scattered, blustery showers are expected to develop across the country, possibly thundery along southern coasts, but some brighter spells are possible between showers.
“Elsewhere tonight it will be showery, so it’s worth taking a rain jacket with you,” Vautrey added.
The driest and brightest weather will be across parts of mainland northern Scotland.
For those foolhardy enough to be planning a New Year’s Day swim, sea surface temperatures around the UK are unlikely to rise above 10C, the Met Office said.
I should imagine if you are a major urban centre in Australia, it must be annoying how Sydney grabs the global spotlight during New Year’s Eve celebrations. But it does have a spectacular backdrop for it …
That doesn’t mean that people aren’t out in force elsewhere in Australia to celebrate the new year. Here is a view of the scenes this evening in Melbourne.
The national monument in Indonesia has been carrying a new year message for 2024.
And it looks like the centre of town in Jakarta has been busy with celebrations, too.
By contrast this image shows some deserted streets in Tokyo in Japan. Like elsewhere, a lot of people take the opportunity at new year to visit their home town.
Earlier in Tokyo these Shinto priests at the Meiji Shrine were preparing for new year celebrations, with as many as 3 million people expected to visit in the next few days.
Welcome …
Hello. Welcome to our live coverage of New Year’s Eve celebrations from around the world as 2024 begins. Well, begins for some of us. I am in London, but Kiritimati has already been enjoying the new year for eight hours, and Sydney has been lit up with the two traditional epic fireworks display – one at midnight, and a family-friendly one at 9pm so you can get younger kids tucked up in bed early.
Over the next few hours we will bring you some of the best photographs from around the world, messages of goodwill from world leaders, and hopefully a little bit of fun, too.
News may also happen – I did not have Queen Margrethe II of Denmark announces surprise abdication live on TV on my list of things to bring you this evening, but here we all are.
Do let me know what you are up to on New Year’s Eve, especially if it is something unusual or you have made a ridiculous new year’s resolution – you can email me at [email protected] – and I always want to see pictures of your animal companions celebrating with you.
And of course, our picture editors have already selected some of the best fireworks images from Australia.
