London welcomes 2025 with dazzling fireworks despite weather cancelling UK events

The London skyline has been lit up with stunning fireworks as the UK welcomes in the New Year.

2025 has kicked off with a bang as huge crowds filled the capital’s streets to watch the display.

The River Thames, Big Ben and the London Eye have been illuminated with the colourful light show, accompanied by music and of course Big Ben’s bongs.

Mayor Sadiq Khan, who’s just been knighted, has promised London will see the biggest firework display across Europe.

And huge crowds have turned out in Manchester to watch the stunning display – despite the relentless rain.

While London’s display has gone ahead as planned, other major displays such as Edinburgh’s Hogmanay event were forced to cancel due to the terrible weather.

With Scotland facing an amber weather warning for rain, organisers of the event at Edinburgh Castle made the difficult decision to call it off.

Displays in Blackpool, Newcastle and Ripon were also cancelled.

The Met Office anticipates ‘disruptive’ and potentially hazardous weather over the next few days, with warnings for rain, snow and wind covering most of the UK at various times.

Chief forecaster Andy Page said: ‘There is a very complicated weather forecast for the UK with snow, strong winds and heavy rain all feature for parts of the UK.

‘Almost the entire UK is covered by at least one weather warning during the coming week.

‘With such a varied and complex weather situation there is potential for the pattern of warnings to shift and possibly escalate in some areas.

‘With lots of celebrations and people on the move over the coming days, we are urging everyone to keep checking the forecast so they can update their plans.’

Auckland, New Zealand was the first major city to enter 2025 at 11am GMT.

Australia started to celebrate the new year from 1pm London time, with Japan and South Korea entering 2025 at 3pm.

However celebrations in South Korea have been cut back or cancelled as the country observes a period of national mourning following the crash on Sunday of a Jeju Air flight at Muan that killed 179 people.

China celebrated the new year at 4pm GMT, followed by Thailand at 5pm, Bangladesh at 6pm, Moscow at 9pm, Greece at 10pm, Germany at 11pm, before Big Ben started to ring out for us at midnight London time.

Got a story? Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk. Or you can submit your videos and pictures here.

For more stories like this, check our news page.

Follow Metro.co.uk on Twitter and Facebook for the latest news updates. You can now also get Metro.co.uk articles sent straight to your device. Sign up for our daily push alerts here.