New Year's parties start as huge fireworks displays herald 2009 (Times Online)

New Year’s celebrations are underway around the world, with firework displays in Auckland and Sydney starting a night of global partying.

West Coast rings in 2009 with fabulous firework displays (KSBY San Luis Obispo)

Here on the West Coast folks rang in the new year with a bang.

New Year revellers told to wrap up warm (Tiscali)

LONDON (Reuters) - New Year revellers were advised to dress warmly on Wednesday with temperatures expected to drop below zero across most of Britain by midnight.

Strange times on winter night walks in Northumberland (Guardian Unlimited)

Taking a walk in the wilds of Northumberland on a cold, dark night, as I did this winter, can be an outlandish experience. One minute you're ambling along a nice woodland path in Kielder Water & Forest Park - the most tranquil spot in the UK, according to a recent study. Then you round a corner and, all of a sudden, you're confronted by a brightly lit palm tree in the middle of a lake. It's ...

Victoria welcomes 2009 (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Hundreds of thousands of revellers flocked to central Melbourne last night to welcome in the new year.