Hands up if you had great New Year!
FIRST-FOOTERS celebrated into the early hours yesterday as they welcomed in a new decade – before thousands took a bracing dip in the sea to cool down.
edinburgh was the epicentre of Hogmanay as 75,000 people packed in to see DJ Mark Ronson headline the annual Princes Street bash.
As midnight struck, the skies above edinburgh Castle were transformed into a rainbow of fluorescent colours as 3,600 fireworks lit up the night sky.
Meanwhile, as the Bells tolled to welcome in 2020, others welcomed new additions into their families as the first babies of the year arrived in maternity wards around the country.
A boy born at 12.03am was the earliest to be announced so far, entering the world at edinburgh Royal Infirmary.
The little boy, weighing 8lb 5oz, is the first child for emma Allan and Cameron Cunningham. The parents, from Port Seton, east Lothian, said they were ‘delighted’ with the new arrival, whose name has not yet been revealed.
As the embers of the Hogmanay celebrations fizzled out it was time for a very fresh start for many.
Thousands of people up and down the country dived into the sea as they took part in various ‘loony dooks’ in what has become a New Year tradition.
Revellers donned fancy dress and bikinis in the midst of winter to take part at dips from Stonehaven, Kincardineshire, to the chilly Clyde at Greenock.
Participants at the Loony Dook in South Queensferry were charged to plunge into the Firth of Forth – with £1 from each being donated to the RNLI.
However, edinburgh Hogmanay organiser Underbelly, which arranged the event, came in for criticism over the cost of tickets.
One participant, Amber Reid, who works for a charity in Lochgelly, Fife, said: ‘We’re doing it for our charity, Fife Young Carers. I think it’s a bit much, especially if you’re raising for charity.’
The 26-year-old added: ‘£1 to charity is not enough when it’s £12 for entry.’
Meanwhile, horses and hounds gathered in Hawick, Roxburghshire, for the Duke of Buccleuch’s annual New Year’s Day meet. Countryside Alliance director for Scotland, Jamie Stewart, said: ‘The support the foxhound packs receive from local communities is fantastic.’
But as the sun rose over edinburgh yesterday it was time for the start of the great tidy-up – with hard-working council staff clearing away the excesses of the night before.