Around 200,000 packed the centre of Edinburgh

A spectacular firework display exploded in the sky over Edinburgh Castle in Scotland at the annual hogmanay and about 200,000 revellers thronged the city centre for a free party billed as the biggest New Year event in the UK.

The centre of the city was cordoned off for the good-natured street party to which only ticket holders were admitted.

Bands including The Pretenders, UB40 and Mansun performed in Princes Street Gardens as part of the Hogmanay entertainment.

Police reported no trouble before midnight and there were only four arrests for drunkenness offences.

Revellers from across the globe enjoyed the party alongside Edinburgh folk, with thousands shaking hands and kissing strangers in the street in traditional New Year style.

Nancy Lloyd, 23, from South Africa, said: "This has to be the most fantastic New Year anywhere in the world. The atmosphere is unbelievable."

Trafalgar Square

Cary Johnston in Trafalgar Square: "One of the most good-natured new year celebrations on record"

There was an alcohol ban and no live music in London's Trafalgar Square but that did not stop around 90,000 revellers gathering there despite police warnings to stay away.

Nelson's Column, the Christmas tree and the fountain were cordoned off and police reported a relatively trouble free night with 11 arrests, mainly for drunkenness.

Later in the day, thousands of people lined the streets for a spectacular 13th New Year's Day parade.

Arrests

But there were several incidents of violence and drunken behaviour in other parts of the country. Police in the Gloucester area said 19 people were arrested in the first four hours of the New Year for a variety of drink-related offences including assault, affray and damage.

Nothing could dampen spirits in Trafalgar Square

Emergency calls to the ambulance service in Greater Manchester climbed by 10% from last year. Paramedic chiefs reported a spate of violent incidents, including many stabbings, across the county.

"There was a great deal of violence and drunkenness with the usual problems in casualty units," said assistant general manager David Kitchin. "We had extra resources and managers were touring the county in incident response vehicles so we were able to cope."

New Year's Parade in London

And a man is critical but stable in hospital after being seriously assaulted during New Year celebrations in Weymouth, Dorset. Dorset Police said that throughout the county "the thin blue line was stretched as far as it possibly could be stretched".

"Officers were fully deployed primarily to deal with drink-related incidents and domestic disturbances which were also drink-related," said a spokesman. "We also had a number of traffic accidents."

Flu warning

Merseyside and Cheshire saw the number of emergency calls fall by 15% on last year.

"We had issued warnings to people to think twice before dialling 999 because we were already stretched by the flu bug," said Staff Officer Kevin Mulcahy, of the Mersey Regional Ambulance Service. "Whether people took notice of this or more people stayed at home because of the flu it is difficult to say."

In Norfolk, police said they dealt with 375 incidents between 10pm and 4am - including 123 during the first two hours of 1999.

A spokesman said there had been sporadic violence in Norwich and Great Yarmouth and a number of arrests had been made.

Some cities used the evening as a practice run for the Millennium celebrations. Mobile casualty stations were set up in Liverpool, Warrington and Manchester as a trial run and were declared a success. Each dealt with up to 30 patients.