A cloudy Sydney sky has come to life as the city's New Year's Eve spectacular kicked off.
SYDNEY and Melbourne have kicked off the party that starts the world's new year by painting the night sky.
A kaleidoscope of colourful fireworks were launched into the skies of both cities before an estimated 1.5 million revellers on Tuesday.
Exploding fireworks sprayed from Sydney's iconic opera house and harbour bridge at midnight as the world began ushering in a new year.
More than 1 million people crammed the Sydney Harbour foreshore on a warm summer night to watch Sydney's renowned annual pyrotechnics show. Fireworks launched from four sails of the Sydney Opera House for the first time in more than a decade.
Stunning...The midnight fireworks light up the sky over the Opera House as Sydney welcomed in 2014. Picture: James Croucher
The show marked the third pyrotechnic spectacular on Sydney Harbour this New Year's Eve, with city skies also lighting up at for eight minutes 9pm (AEST) and a one-off 60 second show at 10pm.
In the 12-minute midnight show of red, gold, blue, and green fireworks morphed into swirls, wheels and comets as they launched off the the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
Sydney announced 2014 with a synchronised explosion across the harbour, including 1000 fireworks shot from the Opera House sails, as well as glittering waterfalls of fire that cascaded over the harbour.
Great view...New Year's Eve fireworks erupt over Sydney's iconic Harbour Bridge. Picture: AFP
For a moment the seven tonnes of coloured fireworks seemed to turn the city's cloudy night into bright day.
Swedish tourist Malin Schumacher, 19, said the midnight display was worth the 10-hour wait.
"You think I'm joking, but I did start to cry. I was overwhelmed.
Celebration...Fireworks light up the sky from The Sydney Harbour Bridge at midnight. Picture: Getty
"You have fireworks in Sweden, but there's nothing compared to this - the view, the energy, the people."
Boliver Warner, 21, said the fireworks got better every year.
"The older I get, the more I enjoy it," the Darlinghurst resident said.
New year fireworks...Fireworks explode over the Melbourne skyline and Yarra River during New Years Eve celebrations. Picture: Getty
"There's always something to look forward to."
This year's top secret bridge effect, a highlight of the midnight display, was a 12 storey high, 72 metre wide neon eye that seemed to peer around the harbour.
Had the eye opened just a couple of hours earlier, it may have spotted the more than 100 seafairing revellers who had to be helped to safety when their boats began sinking in the harbour.
Welcome 2014...New Years Eve 2013 midnight fireworks seen from Mrs Macquarie's Chair in Sydney. Picture: James Croucher
GALLERY: Sydney's spectacular fireworks
GALLERY: Sydney gets ready to celebrate
Earlier, thousands of onlookers at Mrs Macquarie's chair were treated to an aerobatic show with a stunt plane doing loop-de-loops and mid air stalls, and some hair-raising low flying just metres from the water.
Place to be...New Year's Eve revellers party in Federation Square during New Years Eve in Melbourne. Picture: Getty
The true cost of NYE fireworks
For the first time in a decade, 1000 fireworks were also be shot from the top of the Opera House, as well as from the Harbour Bridge and jet skis stationed in the harbour.
Police were out in force on the night at celebration hot spots.
Early start in Melbourne... The 9.30pm fireworks over The Melbourne Cricket Ground and the Yarra River.
MELBOURNE
In Victoria, up to 600,000 revellers packed Melbourne's city centre to catch a glimpse of some of the 7.5 tonnes of fireworks launched from 22 locations, including city rooftops, by a team of 44 pyrotechnists.
Crowds gathered mainly at four live sites - Treasury Gardens, Flagstaff Gardens, Docklands and a new site at Kings Domain - to watch the city skyline pop with light.
New Year...Fireworks light up the sky from The Sydney Harbour Bridge at midnight during New Years Eve celebrations. Picture: Getty
IN PICTURES: How Victoria celebrated the New Year
On a mild and pleasant evening, Melbourne's skyline was lit up from 22 locations across the city.
The 7.5-tonne fireworks display transformed the night sky into a rainbow of colours, from green, gold, blue, pink and red.
Spectacular...Fireworks light up the skyline over Sydney Harbour during the 9pm family fireworks session. Picture: Getty
Flashing balls of light and fireworks that looked like falling stars delighted the crowds, and none more than the finale of a rapid-fire display of light.
Earlier in the night, thousands of families flocked to Yarra Park for fireworks at the family friendly time of 9.30pm (AEDT).
The mood at the family event was relaxed, with lots of kids, babies, mums and dads stretched on blankets with picnics waiting for the fireworks to begin.
Party time...New Years Eve festivities at Mrs Macquaries Chair in Sydney. Dorien Pecinovsky (25) from Belgium, Rick Zalentein (22) from Holland and Bart Gijsbers (22) from Belgium turned out for the festivities. Picture:James Croucher
New mum Nicola Sutcliffe said she was enjoying the music, but not the long queues for food ahead of the 9.30pm fireworks.
"This is the first time we have been out with a child for New Year's Eve and it's good that there is something like this event," she said.
CANBERRA
Background...A general view of action as fireworks are set off in the background during the Big Bash League match between the Adelaide Strikers and the Perth Scorchers at Adelaide Oval. Picture: Getty
In Canberra, thousands of people braved cold weather iN Civic Square to hail the New Year with music and fireworks launched form City Hill and the roof of the Canberra Theatre Centre.
BRISBANE
Brisbanites were treated to the state's largest fireworks show yet. Thousands of people enjoying the fireworks in the CBD breathed a sigh of relief as the rain threat stayed away.
Welcome 2014...New Year's Eve revellers gather on Princes Bridge in Melbourne. Picture: Getty
The skies above the river city were lit up at 8.30pm with some of the 30,000 pyrotechnic effects that will be fired from three barges and three city rooftops at 8.30pm and midnight.
Secret spots to watch the Brisbane fireworks.
HOBART
Worldwide party...An Indian reveller poses on New Year's Eve in Amritsar. Picture: AFP
In Tasmania, tens of thousands converged on the Hobart waterfront and Salamanca market, where the state's biggest food festival, Taste, combined with the finish of the Sydney to Hobart yacht race. Police have warned revellers they will be out in force, cracking down on booze-related offences and antisocial behaviour.
Partygoers looking up from their plates were treated to fireworks exploding over the docks at 9.30pm and midnight.
ADELAIDE
Auckland's night not all black... Fireworks are let off from the Auckland Sky Tower to celebrate the new year.
South Australia sang in the new year with live music in Adelaide's Elder Park, where local bands provided the entertainment on top of fireworks.
The new year will prove dangerous for some, with residents in parts of regional SA urged by authorities to leave their homes and seek safety as "catastrophic" fire danger conditions are predicted for January 1.
IN PICTURES: South Australia welcomes 2014
PERTH
Western Australia will largely leave its patch of sky alone on the night, with Perth saving up its pyrotechnics display for Australia Day.
There are still a few places to ring in 2014 with a bang, including Rockingham and the Shelley foreshore.
A key draw promises to be the headline act for the Salt on the Beach NYE party at North Fremantle, New York hip-hop trio De La Soul.
NEW YEAR'S EVE AROUND THE WORLD
New Zealand rang in the New Year with multicoloured fireworks erupting from Auckland's Sky Tower at midnight Tuesday as thousands of cheering revelers danced in the streets.
In Dubai, organisers hope to break a world record by creating the largest fireworks show ever. They plan to light up the city's coastline with a flying falcon made out of fireworks that moves across a massive man-made palm-shaped island alongside a countdown in fireworks. The 6-minute extravaganza will include 500,000 fireworks from 400 firing locations, all synchronised by 100 computers from stations across the city.
The world's strangest NYE traditions
In the Philippines, more than 260 people had been injured by firecracker blasts and celebratory gunfire ahead of New Year's Eve celebrations, one of Asia's most violent revelries.
Officials expecte the number of injuries to rise sharply as Filipinos ignite powerful firecrackers to end a year marked by tragic disasters, including the November 8 typhoon that left more than 6100 dead and nearly 1800 others missing.
"Many here are welcoming the new year after losing their mothers, fathers, siblings and children so you can imagine how it feels,'' said village chief Maria Rosario Bactol of Anibong community in Tacloban, the city worst hit by Typhoon Haiyan.
China was planning to count down to the New Year with light shows at two spectacular and historic locations - part of the Great Wall near Beijing and at the Bund waterfront in Shanghai.
In Japan, thousands of visitors, some donning kimono, will pray, ring a bell and toss coins as offerings at shrines, wishing for health, wealth and happiness. Temple bells will ring the customary 108 times, for the 108 causes of suffering according to Buddhism, and welcome in the Year of the Horse.
In Indonesia, New Year's celebrations are widespread except in the city of Banda Aceh where Islamic clerics prohibit Muslims from celebrating New Year's Eve.
In the capital, Jakarta, tourism authorities estimate 2 million people will take part in street parties in 162 locations.
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