New Year's Eve: The world welcomes 2016 with celebration and trepidation amid global terror threat

Many countries celebrated the new year amid much tighter security conditions than normal

A dazzling fireworks display lights up Sydney harbour (Rex Features)

The world has welcomed 2016 with a mixture of celebration, trepidation and the determination to carry on in the face of terrorist threats.

In the wake of November’s terror attacks in Paris, many countries celebrated the new year amid much tighter security conditions than normal.

In Paris itself, extra police, gendarmes and soldiers were drafted into the French capital to protect the crowds – 11,000 compared to 9,000 last year.

The French government, however, overruled the Prefect of Police and decreed that the traditional open-air party on the Champs Elysées and around the Arc de Triomphe should go ahead. In keeping with the mood in the city following the terror attacks that killed 130 people, the traditional fireworks display was due to be replaced by a five-minute video performance at the Arc de Triomphe, to be relayed on screens along the Champs Elysées.

Anne Hidalgo, the mayor of Paris, said that the “noble and decent” video display would be aimed at “sending the world the message that Paris is standing, proud of its lifestyle and living together”.

Parisien restaurants, however, reported that their New Year’s Eve bookings were down by 50 per cent, suggesting a reluctance to arrange New Year’s Eve parties.

Francis Cousin, a Paris caterer, told Europe 1 radio: “It has been catastrophic. Everyone wanted to cancel everything. People are reluctant to organise events involving lots of people.”

In Belgium, fear of terrorism remained high after police arrested six more people as part of investigations into a suspected plot to commit a New Year terrorist attack in Brussels. The official Brussels New Year fireworks display and other public festivities were cancelled after the arrest earlier this week of two people alleged to be planning a terrorist attack. Belgian officials also announced that a tenth person had been placed under formal investigation for their alleged connection with the Paris terror attacks.

Officers inspect revellers at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin (Getty)

In the UK, Scotland Yard insisted that the deployment of 3,000 officers in central London was a normal precaution for New Year’s Eve, and it appeared that people were still preparing to go out to enjoy themselves. Tickets for the Mayor of London’s New Year’s Eve fireworks had sold out.

In Australia, more than one million people watched a fireworks display over Sydney harbour, seemingly reassured by announcements that thousands of extra police had been drafted in to patrol the major cities. Amid the heightened security, Melbourne’s Lord Mayor Robert Doyle urged residents: “Don’t let events from around the world challenge the way that we live.”

New Year’s celebrations were also due to be accompanied by heightened security measures in Kenya, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia, where authorities announced last week that they had foiled a plot by Islamic militants to attack government officials and foreigners. More than 9,000 police were to be deployed in Bali, the site of Indonesia’s deadliest terror attack, in October 2002.