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The 11 minute display cost £1.8 million and saw 12,000 individual fireworks set off from the London Eye to a musical soundtrack.

Around 50,000 revellers were treated to what organisers described as "the world's first multi-sensory fireworks display".

People standing in an area around the size of three football pitches got to smell orange-scented bubbles and taste banana confetti and peach snow.

London Mayor Boris Johnson said: "There is no better way to celebrate the highs of 2013 and the start of an exciting new year than by seeing one of the world's most dazzling firework displays, now augmented in more ways than one.

"Watched by millions around the world, and hundreds of thousands of people from the banks of the Thames, it highlights our capital's fantastic community spirit and its premier position on the global stage."

Around 100,000 people in viewing areas by the Thames were handed packs that featured scratch 'n' sniff programmes and fruit flavoured sweets.

The packs were meant to enhance their experience of the fireworks display and tie into the "multi-sensory" theme.

In Scotland around 80,000 people attended Edinburgh's famous Hogmanay street party.

Pop legends The Pet Shop Boys performed live while 20 tonnes of fireworks were set off from Edinburgh Castle.

Simultaneous fireworks displays took place in the Scottish capital, Inverness and Stirling to mark the start of 2014.

Anyone out partying this evening in the south of England and western Scotland will have to wrap up warm as against the winter chill.It will be a mixture of cold spells and showers, according to Helen Chivers, of the Met Office.

She said: "Quite a lot of people will welcome in the new year with weather that is dry but chilly. It will feel cold because there will be a bit of a breeze even though the temperatures are not going to be near freezing."

Revellers across Scotland and Northern Ireland will celebrate the new year with temperatures of between 3C (37.4F) and 5C (41F), while those in northern England will face temperatures of about 6C (42.8F) and those in the South will have to wrap up against breezy temperatures of between 7C (44.6F) and 9C (48.2F).

Anyone making their way home in the early morning, from around 6am, will find themselves among the unsettled weather that is set for the coming week.

Ms Chivers said: "If someone is out quite that late, it could be pretty wet and windy."

The British celebrations came after people across the globe celebrated the beginning of the New Year.The tiny island of Kiribati in the Pacific Ocean was the first country to celebrate the new year.The nation is made up of 32 tiny atolls and one raised coral island and has a permanent population of just over 100,000.

Australia has also ushered in 2014 with Sydney's traditional firework display as impressive as ever.

While Kiribati got the party underway at 10:00am GMT, the isles of Baker Island and Howland Island will be the last places on Earth to enter the new year.

The uninhabited islands lie on the other side of the International Date Line to Kiribati and despite being fairly close to Kiribati they will enter January 1 a full 26 hours after their Pacific neighbour.

After Australia and New Zealand east Asian countries China, Singapore, Indonesia and Thailand were next to ring in the New Year.

China planned light shows at part of the Great Wall near Beijing and at the Bund waterfront in Shanghai while thousands lined the street in Jakarta to welcome in 2014 in Indonesia.

New Year's revellers in Dubai were treated to what organisers hoped would be the world's largest fireworks show ever.

The city's coastline was lit up in a six minute stunning display by around 500,000 fireworks launched from 400 locations.

Guinness World Record officials were at the display to measure the scale of the event.

Around one million hit one of the world's biggest open air parties in Berlin to celebrate the start of 2014.

Fireworks kicked off at 11:00pm GMT while live music and laser shows were held to mark New Year's Eve.