Shard prepares for New Year's Eve with highest ever countdown as the rest of the world celebrates the arrival of 2015
- Shard in London will beam out the highest ever New Year's Eve countdown as the world celebrates arrival of 2015
- Skyscraper to come alive with dazzling lights display - including Western Europe's highest countdown clock
- Fiji and New Zealand welcomed 2015 with fireworks and celebrations at 11am GMT, followed by Australia
- New Years Eve celebrations have begun around the globe with thousands gathering in Sydney
- Display in the Sydney Harbour featured seven tonnes of fireworks and is thought to have attracted 1.6million
- Beijing will celebrate with an event in the Olympic Park to highlight its bid to host the 2022 Winter Olympics
- Hundreds gathered in Hogamanay, Scotland for a New Years Eve-eve party on Tuesday night
PUBLISHED: 19:39, 31 December 2014 | UPDATED: 20:17, 31 December 2014
The Shard will tonight beam out the highest ever New Year's Eve countdown as the rest of the world continues to celebrate the arrival of 2015.
Europe's tallest skyscraper will provide the glittering back drop for a night of festivities when it lights up the night sky in London.
The 300-metre building will come alive with a dazzling lights display, including Western Europe's highest countdown clock, as parties get underway across Britain tonight.
It comes as millions around the world continue to welcome in 2015 with a series of spectacular fireworks displays.
In Sydney, Australia, an estimated 1.6million people turned up to watch more than 10,000 aerial fireworks, 25,000 shooting comets and 100,000 pyrotechnic effects on show during this year's New Year's Eve display over Harbour Bridge and the Opera House.
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The Shard will tonight beam out the highest ever New Year's Eve countdown as the rest of the world continues to celebrate the arrival of 2015
What a way to go: Sydney and Australia say goodbye to 2014 as the new year rolls in across the globe
Merry new years tidings: Fireworks explode over Malaysia's landmark Petronas Twin Towers during New Year celebrations in Kuala Lumpur
Going off with a bang: An explosion of fireworks erupted over Victoria Harbour in Hong Kong as the city ushered in the New Year
Arriving in style: Sydney locals, Demi Bryant, 22, and James Hundt, 28, celebrate the beginning of the New Year atop a high-rise overlooking the iconic Sydney New Year's Eve fireworks sitting on a Ford Mustang
And we're off: An estimated 1.6million people gathered on the shores of the Sydney Harbour for the midnight fireworks show
Heavy artillery: This image shows just some of the seven tonnes of fireworks that were set off around midnight in Sydney
Nearly there: Thousands of people watched the fireworks in Sydney from some 50 vessels in the water
Happy New Year: The midnight show over Sydney's iconic Harbour Bridge and Opera House welcomes 2015
The Shard's festive display has changed daily in recent days using beacons, smoke machines, LED panels and projections. The artwork, called Shard lights, has been installed on the top 40 storeys of the tower.
It has been created by award winning art collective, Jason Bruges Studio, in a bid to 'evoke the spirit, energy and dynamism of London.'
The public piece of art has been designed to celebrate the year The Shard came to life, opening to businesses and the public and becoming an internationally recognised beacon for modern London.
In Sydney earlier, hundreds of umbrellas and tents began popping up on Sydney's Blues Point early Wednesday morning as people settled in to wait for the symphonic light display, with huge queues forming overnight to secure a prominent view.
Malaysia celebrates the New Year 2015 in modest mood in honor to the victims of the Malaysia Airlines MH370 and MH17 plane tragedies and floods that hit the country at this time claimed 24 lives and more than 200,000 have been evacuated
Five decades of independence: Singapore celebrates its 50th anniversary of independence with a year long festival
One big global show: Fireworks go off at the Taipei 101 skyscraper to celebrate New Year 2015 in Taipei, Taiwan
All over the globe: Fireworks explode over the Victoria Harbour as Hong Kong celebrates the arrival of 2015
Konnichiwa 2015: Some 2,000 people release balloons beside the Tokyo Tower to celebrate the New Year in the Japanese capital
People are gathered as fireworks explode over the Yokohama port during new year celebrations in Yokohama, near Tokyo
Worldwide cheer: Hundreds of South Koreans gather to celebrate the New Year at the Imjingak Pavilion near the border village of Panmunjom, which has separated the two Koreas since the Korean War, in Paju, north of Seoul
Moment of peace: Buddhists light candles during New Year celebrations at Jogye Buddhist temple in Seoul, South Korea
While much of the evening was dedicated to celebrating, floral tributes to Martin Place siege victims Tori Johnson and Katrina Dawson were on display amid the evening's fireworks.
'It is in memory of the two young and talented people that we lost because of that siege,' said Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore.
'We remember the trauma the hostages experienced, the bravery of the police and we remember the way Sydney responded as we expected - an inclusive, welcoming, multicultural community,' he said.
Sydney Harbour will be a beacon of celebration as Australia farewells another year, sending 2014 off with an extra round of fireworks. In what is believed to be a first, drones will be used to live stream the fireworks as they launch from the Harbour Bridge, the Opera House and several barges in the water.
Silent prayer: A woman prays during New Year celebrations at Jogye Buddhist temple in Seoul
Religious holiday: Buddhist monks and believers pray during a ceremony to celebrate the new year at Bongeun Buddhist temple in Seoul
A burst of orange light brightens up the night sky in Manila, the capital of the Philippines, as the country welcomes in 2015
Revelers watch a laser show being projected on buildings as the countdown for the New Year begins in Manila, Philippines
Chinese folk artists dress up for a drama performance during the New Year's Eve count down in Beijing to promote the city's 2022 Winter Olympic bid at Olympic Park
Actors carried feathers and wore a range of colourful outfits for the event in Beijing as the city counted in 2015
Laser lights illuminate the Lujiazui financial district of Pudong in Shanghai during a light show as part of a New Year countdown celebration
Lift off: China has marked the end of 2014 by launching a Long March-3A rocket carrying a meteorological satellite from a facility in Xichang, Sichuan Province
First up: A grand fireworks display lit up the sky at the stroke of midnight in Wellington, New Zealand
One down: New Zealand, along with Fiji, was among the first nations to welcome the new year at 11am GMT
More joy: Fireworks were set off from the top of the Sky Tower to welcome the New Year in Auckland, New Zealand
Smashing show: More than 10,000 aerial fireworks, 25,000 shooting comets and 100,000 pyrotechnic effects are expected to be used
For the world: Drones will be used to live stream the fireworks as they launch from the Harbour Bridge, the Opera House and several barges
Honuring those lost: Tributes to the Martin Place siege victims are planned amid the evening's fireworks in the harbour
In the Chinese capital Beijing, eight hours ahead of London, an event will be held in the Olympic Park designed to highlight the capital's bid to host the 2022 Winter Olympics.
Skaters will perform and Olympic medalist figure skater Zhao Hongbo, Paralympics gold medalist swimmer Yang Yang and pianist Lang Lang will appear.
Japan prepared for 'osechi ryori', the country's biggest traditional holiday on New Year's Day. At midnight, temple bells will strike 108 times, the number of evils, or temptations, as defined by Buddhism.
There will be fireworks and bonfires around the nation as millions of people flock to neighborhood temples and shrines to pray for health and happiness.
In Rio De Janeiro, two hours behind London and Greenwich Mean Time, more than 1million people are expected to flock to Copacabana beach, where two dozen artists and DJs will perform on three stages. Tourists and locals routinely party until dawn on the beach, staying awake to watch the tropical sun rise for the first time in 2015.
A massive fireworks display blasted from boats in the waters of the Atlantic Ocean will light the sky over the crowd, which traditionally dresses in all white, a Brazilian New Year tradition to bring purification and a peaceful year.
Another tradition calls for partygoers to enter the sea up to their knees and jump over seven waves shortly after the New Year begins, for luck.
Europe - get ready! A visitor writes '2015' with a light pen in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France ahead of the new year
Incoming: 2015 is written in the air with a sparkler at the frozen Mana River in the Taiga district outside Russia's Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk
Anniversary: A floating installation of 25,000 wishing spheres line Marina Bay, Singapore as the sovereign-city state prepares to celebrate its golden jubilee of 50 years of independence from Malaysia in 2015
Annual display in the Sydney Harbour will feature seven tonnes of fireworks and is expected to attract 1.6million
The harbour is expected to dazzle as 50 vessels carrying over 8,000 people erupt in light shortly after the first round of fireworks at 9pm
Thousands of people have already started the festivities on Wednesday morning, streaming into Sydney's CBD in anticipation of the evening's spectacular fireworks
New Year's Eve celebrations have already started across North America with New York's traditional crystal ball already in place in Times Square.
The Waterford crystal ball will drop at midnight, in a tradition being increasingly copied across the United States with twists celebrating local icons. Las Cruces, New Mexico, is spicing up New Year's Eve with its first chili drop. In Miami, a 10-meter (35-foot) neon orange will light up, while Atlanta and Nashville, Tennessee, will drop a peach and a musical note, respectively.
Flagstaff, Arizona, celebrates with a 2-meter (6-foot) pine cone that drops from a downtown hotel. Nearby Prescott drops a 2-meter (6-foot) spurred cowboy boot in a nod to its western culture.
On Lake Erie in Port Clinton, Ohio, the community will carry on its tradition of dropping a 270 kilogram (600 pound) walleye made of wood and fiberglass.
Michigan's Upper Peninsula will ring in 2015 with a nod to its mining history, with a replica of a pasty - a baked pastry filled with meat and potatoes traditionally associated with Cornwall in the UK - to drop in Escanaba, one of the remote region's largest cities. The meal was popular by miners who immigrated to Michigan decades ago.
In Scotland celebrations have been underway since Tuesday night when Edinburgh kicked off the Hogmanay festival, which is the UK's biggest outdoor winter music festival
Large crowds are expected at the world-famous street party which will see performances from Twin Atlantic, Twilight Sad, Eddi Reader and this year's Mercury Prize-winners, the Edinburgh-based act Young Fathers.
The concert in the gardens is being headlined by Lily Allen, who will be joined by special guests Bjorn Again and Soul II Soul. A midnight fireworks display will welcome in 2015, followed by the traditional mass rendition of Auld Lang Syne.
In London fireworks will light up the sky above the South Bank at midnight and celebrations will carry on until 12:45am with a live DJ set.
Gearing up: Fireworks are set off over Calton Hill during Edinburgh's Hogmanay festival on Tuesday night
They sure know how to party: Men dressed as Vikings take part in the torchlight procession as it makes its way through Edinburgh for the start of the Hogmanay celebrations on Tuesday
How they do: A midnight fireworks display will welcome in 2015, followed by the traditional mass rendition of Auld Lang Syne (pictured is celebrations on Tuesday night)
Let it burn, burn, burn: A fire surrounded by revellers in viking costumes burns on Calton Hill during Edinburgh's Hogmanay on Tuesday
Doing it big: Edinburgh's Hogmanay, which kicked off last night, is the UK's biggest outdoor winter music festival
Don't drop the ball! Workers test out the lighting on the New Year's Eve ball used in the Times Square celebration in New York
Jeffrey Straus, president of Countdown Entertainment and Brent Shafer, CEO of Philips North America, watch the Times Square crystal ball which is illuminated with 32,256 LED lights and is made up of 2,688 Waterford crystals
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