New Year celebrations all over the world have been taking place accompanied by fireworks, alcohol, and, in most cities, careful crowd control.

Big Ben strikes the hour

Trafalgar Square in London played host to 80,000 people bringing in the New Year to the sound of Big Ben.

Revellers blew whistles and danced through the last moments of 1997 while watching a dazzling firework display.

After trouble in previous years, Trafalgar Square's fountains were drained for the safety of the carousing merrymakers.

Fireworks at Edinburgh castle

As many as 180,000 people from all over the world spent Hogmanay in Edinburgh.

Princes Street celebrations in the Scottish capital have been an international focus for New Year festivities since 1983.

Authorities restricted entry to central Edinburgh for the first time this year, after problems with crowd control in 1997. Access to the Princes Street area was by ticket only.

Many people who travel to the capital every year for the event were unable to get hold of tickets.

The atmosphere this year was well-ordered and police expressed satisfaction with the ticketing system.

Och, la la! It's Paris, not Princes Street

But for this pair, who look like they've stepped straight off the picture on a traditional tin of shortbread, the Auld Alliance proved strong.

They forsook the green grass of the Princes Street gardens and took off for Paris to see in 1998.

Balloons are released as the last day of trading in 1997 ends on Wall Street

Elsewhere, in New York's financial heart, Wall Street, traders bounced balloons at the close of trading.

But not such a happy time was had in part of New Zealand. Police in the North Island town of Wanganui were forced to don riot gear early on New Year's Day morning as 200 drunken youths turned violent after New Year celebrations.

They blamed extended licensing hours for the trouble, which was sparked by a 17-year-old who smashed a shop window in the town.

Reinforcements in riot gear were called in and 20 people were arrested on charges including assault.
 

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