It's taken a full 26 hours but 2026 has finally arrived everywhere on Earth.

The world's tallest building, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, was lit up with a huge fireworks display, New York City's Times Square welcomed the new year with its famous ball-drop, and fireworks filled the sky over the Thames in central London.

The new year actually began (for some) at 10:00 GMT, Wednesday, on the Pacific atoll of Kiritimati - also known as Christmas Island - and ended around 1,300 miles away on Baker Island at 12:00 GMT on Thursday.

We've been hearing from people in every corner of the globe - including a couple among the first to celebrate on Kiritimati, to the crew of the RRS Sir David Attenborough sailing around the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula.

And we heard from one new year enthusiast - a pharmacist from Coventry, UK - who took advantage of the peculiar time zone dynamics to welcome in 2026 twice. First in Samoa, and then 24 hours later and a short plane ride away in American Samoa. We also spoke to a bartender in Australia who walked into 2026 - and then walked out again.

But we're not quite done with the celebrations - New Year's Day is of course an event of its own. So, starting 2026 as we mean to continue, please enjoy the picture below of Postman Pat joining the Southend RNLI New Year Day Dip on the Essex coast.

However you choose to mark the moment, a final Happy New Year from us. We're ending our live coverage now - you can read more about the UK's celebrations here.

Image source, PA Media

The world's final time zone, containing Baker Island in the Pacific, has entered 2026.

The atoll is a US national wildlife refuge and uninhabited, but is occasionally visited by scientists from the US Fish and Wildlife Service.

According to the US government, a short-lived attempt at colonisation began in 1935 but was disrupted by World War Two and later abandoned.

Image source, CIA/US Fish and Wildlife Service

Image source, Monir Ahmed

Several hours ago we heard from Monir Ahmed, a pharmacist from Coventry in the UK with big plans to "time travel" his way to two new year's celebrations.

He spoke to us just after welcoming in 2026 in Samoa. "I have a time machine and will be doing it all over again tomorrow in American Samoa!" he said.

We can now confirm that Monir - after a few hours of rest and a short plane journey - made it to American Samoa to celebrate the new year again a full 24 hours later, at 11:00 GMT.

After the new year celebrations, he says that it has been "an incredible experience" and "the Pacific region has some of the most friendliest people I’ve ever met on my travels".

What a way to start 2026.

American Samoa and Niue Island have just rung in the new year - meaning we've got just one more time zone to go, which includes the uninhabited Baker Island, in an hour's time.

While most of the world has now welcomed 2026, there are still a handful of places in 2025.

Niue Island in the South Pacific will mark the new year at 11:00 GMT, and by 12:00 GMT it will be 2026 everywhere as the uninhabited Baker Island in the central Pacific leaves 2025 behind.

It is already 2 January in parts of the Pacific nation of Kiribati - which has three time zones - as the atoll of Kiritimati entered a new day at 10:00 GMT.

Baker Island is 26 hours behind Kiritimati, with the islands approximately 1,323 miles apart.

Image source, Kaai Silbery

One of the first places to welcome 2026 was the Chatham Islands, which are administered by New Zealand. It is another part of the world which is now already in 2 January.

Kaai Silbery sent a picture of the sun rising for the first time in 2026 on the islands.

It's midnight in Honolulu and western-most Alaskan Aleutian Islands - meaning the whole of the US has now entered 2026.

Image source, British Antarctic Survey

Where is the most unusual place you've spent new year? Hard to top the crew of the RRS Sir David Attenborough, currently sailing around the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula.

The crew tell us it was a "fairly mild" -3C (27F).

As we mentioned earlier, marking the new year is a tradition on British Antarctic Survey ships. The oldest person onboard rings out the old year just before midnight, and the youngest person rings in the New Year.

Chief engineer Neil MacDonald and IT engineer Joshua Holder had the honour this time - we can now bring you a picture of the moment.

Image source, British Antarctic Survey

Image source, Reuters

We want to hear how you are marking the start of the new year. Are you in Hawaii or on one of the Pacific islands yet to enter 2026? You can get in touch in the following ways:

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With the turn of the hour, most of Alaska as well as French Polynesia’s Gambier Islands are now entering 2026.

Los Angeles and Las Vegas are celebrating the new year as the clocks strike midnight across many western US states.

It's also the start of 2026 for much of northwest Mexico and British Columbia in Canada.

Image source, TOLGA AKMEN/EPA/Shutterstock

Most of the world has now welcomed in the new year - with much of the west coast of North America and a number of Pacific islands yet to see the start of 2026. Here's a recap:

• Kiritimati (GMT+14), also known as Christmas Island, in the Pacific Ocean was the first place in the world to celebrate the new year - it hit midnight when it was still 10:00 GMT on Wednesday
• As ever, Sydney put on a fantastic fireworks display to light up the harbour - but our Australian correspondent Katy Watson says the moment was tempered with sadness following the Bondi Beach attack weeks before
• The world's tallest building, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, was lit up with a spectacular fireworks display
• The ball has dropped in New York, and London welcomed the new year with its traditional fireworks display over the Thames
• The uninhabited Baker Island in the central Pacific will be the last place to enter 2026, at 12:00 GMT

Time travellers

• Believe it or not, we've heard from a few - a pharmacist from Coventry celebrated in Samoa when it hit midnight there around lunchtime UK-time on Wednesday, before setting off for American Samoa to do it all again at what will be around 11:00 GMT today
• A British bartender described her experience of crossing in and out of 2026 as she got ready for work in an Australian town that borders two states in different time zones

Resolutions

• We've been bringing you the new year resolutions from across the BBC newsroom - our chief international correspondent Lyse Doucet says she resolves to "get back to places which get less of the world’s attention, and assistance" this year
• Chief North America correspondent Gary O'Donoghue says he wants to listen more to the kind of conversations you hear around the kitchen table, away from the think tanks and commentariat
• And on the more technical side, presenter on the BBC News channel Geeta Guru-Murthy says she wants to finish a course in AI ethics

Several people have been killed, and others are injured, after an explosion at a bar in the Swiss ski resort of Crans-Montana, police say.

The blast occurred at 01:30 local time (00:30 GMT) in the Constellation Bar, police said in a statement to the BBC.

You can follow dedicated live coverage of the incident here.

The Midwest region of the US is officially in 2026, along with Guatemala, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Belize and El Salvador.

Happy new year one and all!

Not long now until the entire world enters 2026. Thank you for sticking with us, wherever you are, and hope you've enjoyed following along to all the different celebrations.

Here is an even smaller list of places still counting down to midnight:

• 06:00 GMT - Mexico City, Chicago
• 08:00 GMT - Los Angeles
• 10:00 GMT - Honolulu, Hawaii

Image source, Reuters

Sticking with New York and the impressive colourful confetti that has engulfed Times Square, enjoy these shots of people celebrating ahead of what will undoubtedly be a massive clean up on New Year's Day.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Getty

Image source, Reuter

Here's the moment the ball drops in Times Square, New York marking the moment the city entered 2026.

We wrote a post about what the ball is all about earlier.

The beginning of a new year is met with confetti and cheers as crowds in New York welcome 2026.

It's estimated that around a million revellers braved the cold weather to gather in Times Square to watch the ball drop, CBS News reports.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters