World welcomes 2024 with a bang as Sydney spectacularly celebrates New Year with 12-minute fireworks display

Millions of people across the world will celebrate entering the New Year today.

Sydney in Australia became one of the first major cities to mark the occasion with an epic 12-minute firework display.

Thousands attended the spectacle at Sydney Harbour at around 1pm GMT.

However, revellers started to gather from around 3am (local time) and all vantage points were seemingly full five hours before celebrations kicked off.

The 12-minute display stunned the skies over the Emerald City.

Around 8.5 tonnes of vibrant fireworks burst into the sky over the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House.

It took a total of 15 months to plan the spectacle in Sydney.

Sydney’s city authorities have previously claimed around 425 million people watch the firework display worldwide

There was an increase in the number of police officers at Sydney’s Harbour to protect the one million people converging on the area.

The waterfront has also been the scene of heated pro-Palestinian protests in recent weeks after the sails of the Sydney Opera House were illuminated in the colours of the Israeli flag in response to the October 7 attack by Hamas.

However, you would need to cross the Tasman Sea to Auckland in New Zealand to see the first major celebrations of 2024.

Auckland marked the New Year at 11am (GMT) as thousands gathered at the Sky Tower.

A 10-second countdown was projected onto the base of the tower.

This was followed by a dazzling firework display which pleased onlookers.

Tokyo, Seoul and Pyongyang were the latest capital cities to see 2024 at 3pm (GMT).

However, the Oceanic nation of Kiribati became the first country to celebrate the occasion.