In Auckland, the iconic Sky Tower lit up in vibrant colours, surrounded by fireworks as the Kiwis ushered in the new year.

New Zealand has become one of the very first countries in the world to ring in 2025. Fireworks erupted from Auckland’s Sky Tower, the tallest structure in the nation, to welcome the New Year. It was an hour before that the Pacific island nation of Kiribati celebrated the arrival of January 1 as the clock struck midnight.

Auckland in New Zealand and Sydney in Australia have become the first major Western cities to welcome 2025, with hundreds of thousands of revellers marvelling at spectacular fireworks and waving goodbye to a year marked by turmoil in the Middle East and Ukraine,