How New Year's Eve is celebrated around the world

Fireworks, a crowded pub and Auld Lang Syne might be among the first things that spring to mind when you think of New Year's Eve.

But depending where you are in the world, celebrating new year could have been a bit different.

From bear dances and throwing furniture out of windows, some traditions aren't quite as tame as a cheer and a sparkler.

Here's how some places have been celebrating.

British astronaut Tim Peake sent a message from the International Space Station:

"I would like to wish everybody on our beautiful planet earth a very fun New Year's Eve and happy, healthy 2016. Happy New Year."

He was beamed on to big screens at the Hogmanay celebrations in Edinburgh and then did a nice somersault as the fireworks started going off down on planet Earth.

We don't think he could quite see them from up there.

In Romania, it is custom for locals to mark the new year by dressing up as dancing bears to ward off evil spirits.

Bears are sacred creatures in Romanian mythology, and are thought to have the power to protect and heal people.

People in Johannesburg, South Africa mark the new year by lobbing old furniture out the window.

They do it with the aim of starting the new year without any unwanted items, the Italians follow a similar tradition.

Watch the 2010 watermelon drop, external

Since 2008, people in Vincennes, Indiana have celebrated New Year's Eve by dropping watermelons from a raised platform.

The local delicacy is hoisted above the crowd's heads inside an 18-foot wooden watermelon before letting them fly at 12 o'clock.

Cities all over the US have developed their own so-called "drops" in reference to the giant disco ball that gets dropped in Times Square in New York at midnight.

In Spain, eating 12 grapes at midnight on New Year's Eve is both a tradition and a superstition.

People focus on eating 12 grapes during the first 12 seconds of the New Year with each second being counted down with a chime.

There is a tradition which suggests that anyone who doesn't get involved runs the risk of having bad things happen to them in the coming year, as the 12 grapes symbolise 12 lucky months ahead.

What better way to mark a new year than smashing a plate on your mate's front door?

It's a big New Years Eve tradition in Denmark and it's a sign of good luck to find a heap of broken china on the doorstep at midnight.

And - according to the tradition it brings good luck.

It's also tradition to jump off a chair at the stroke of midnight - symbolising the leap into the New Year.

Some people in Ecuador take a "suitcase walk" around the streets near their home on new year's eve.

It's though taking an empty suitcase for a stroll encourages a more adventurous year ahead.

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