New Year celebrations: How the world welcomed in 2018

Fireworks explode over the Jacques Cartier bridge during New Years Eve celebrations in Montreal

From spectacular fireworks in Hong Kong and Australia to a huge LED light show at the world's tallest building in Dubai, here is a look at how revellers around the world have welcomed in 2018:

NEW YORK

With a burst of confetti and fireworks, throngs of revellers ushered in 2018 in a frigid Times Square as the glittering crystal ball dropped.

It was the second-coldest on record, with the temperature only 10F (minus 12C) in New York at midnight.

A firework explodes over the Arc de Triomphe as part of the New Year celebrations on the Champs Elysees, in Paris, France

Partygoers bundled up in extra layers, wearing warm hats and face masks, dancing and jogging on the spot to ward off the cold.

There was also tighter security than ever after two recent terrorist attacks and a rampaging SUV driver who ploughed into a crowd on the very spot where the party takes place. The event went off with no major problems.

Auld Lang Syne and New York, New York played as the crowds cheered.

The coldest ball drop celebration was in 1917, when it was only 1F (minus 17C).

Fireworks go off to mark the beginning 2018 during New Years Eve celebrations held at Nathan Phillips Square in Toronto

BRAZIL

Rio de Janeiro's main party was celebrated with fireworks erupting on Copacabana beach after the clock struck midnight to usher in the new year.

After 17 minutes of a multicoloured show in the skies, singer Anitta led the party on stage with her single Vai Malandra, a song that scored 84 million views on YouTube in two weeks. Some of the city's most traditional Carnival samba schools performed later.

New mayor Marcelo Crivella said he believed the celebrations would bring three million people to the famous beach, which would mean nearly half of Rio's population. But locals said Brazil's economic crisis is still impacting one of the city's biggest parties. In 2017, two million people showed up at Copacabana beach, a number that has not changed much over the years.

The ball drops during the New Year's Eve celebration in Times Square on Sunday, Dec. 31, 2017, in New York

Almost 2,000 policemen patrolled the Copacabana region after yet another violent year on the streets. Rio's hotel association said occupation is nearly total, but mostly by Brazilian tourists.

GERMANY

Germans rang in 2018 under tight security from police mindful of widespread sexual abuse of women in Cologne two years ago and of a terrorist attack on a Christmas market about a year ago.

Police in Berlin added 1,600 officers on duty and said that large bags and rucksacks would not be allowed on the Party Mile leading from Brandenburg Gate, where thousands of people celebrated at midnight. Police in Frankfurt imposed similar restrictions in the celebration area along the Main River in the country's financial capital.

Patrick Graver, right, of New York, embraces Justin Kelly, also of New York, in Times Square

Two years ago, new year's in Cologne was marred by groping and theft committed against hundreds of women, in most cases by migrants. On December 19 2016, Tunisian asylum seeker Anis Amri drove a stolen truck into a Christmas market in Berlin, killing 12 people.

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

Dubai's Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building, has again served as the focal point of New Year's Eve celebrations - though this year authorities decided against fireworks and chose a massive LED light show on it.

That was in part due to safety in the city-state in the United Arab Emirates, which saw a massive skyscraper fire on New Year's Eve in 2015.

The display, running down the east side of the 828-metre tall (2,716ft tall) tower, showed Arabic calligraphy, geometric designs and a portrait of the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the UAE's first president.

But a display of neighbouring nations' flags did not show Qatar's flag. The UAE joined Bahrain, Egypt and Saudi Arabia in boycotting the tiny energy-rich nation in June over allegations Doha supports extremists and has too close ties to Iran. Qatar, which will host the 2022 Fifa World Cup, denies supporting extremists and shares a massive offshore natural gas field with Tehran.

People watch the fireworks exploding over Copacabana beach during the New Year's celebrations in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

VATICAN

Bidding 2017 farewell, Pope Francis decried wars, injustices and environmental decay which he said had "ruined" the year.

Francis presided at a New Year's Eve prayer service in St Peter's Basilica, a traditional occasion to say thanks in each year's last hours.

He said God gave to us a 2017 "whole and sound", but that "we humans in many ways ruined and hurt it with works of death, lies and injustices".

But, he added, "gratitude prevails" thanks to those "co-operating silently for the common good".

AUSTRALIA

Fireworks lit up the sky above Sydney Harbour, highlighting the city's new year's celebrations.

The massive fireworks display included a rainbow waterfall cascade of lights and colour flowing off the harbour's bridge to celebrate recently passed legislation legalising gay marriage in Australia.

More than one million people were expected to gather to watch the festivities. Security was tight, but officials said there was no particular alert.

Sydney officials said the event would generate "priceless publicity" for the city. Nearly half the revellers were tourists.

NEW ZEALAND

Tens of thousands of New Zealanders took to streets and beaches, becoming among the first in the world to usher in 2018.