Tens of thousands of partygoers have taken to the streets of the city known as the home of Hogmanay to welcome the New Year.

Up to 80,000 people from across the world could be heard counting down the final moments of 2016 in Edinburgh before a specular fireworks and laser show to welcome 2017 in style.

Following the dazzling display, people began a mass rendition of Queen's Don't Stop Me Now before crowds began singing Auld Lang Syne.

Revellers took part in the UK's largest outdoor winter festival celebrations before the clock struck midnight, with Scots favourite Paolo Nutini headlining the Concert In The Gardens.

The Herald:

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The world-famous street party also saw performances from The Charlatans, Fatherson and Be Charlotte.

The traditional Old Town Ceilidh saw 5,000 people dancing through the midnight bells on Edinburgh's famous Royal Mile.

Four fireworks displays were held - at 9pm, 10pm and 11pm, rising to the crescendo of the spectacular Midnight Moment display from the ramparts of Edinburgh Castle, Princes Street Gardens and Calton Hill which also included a laser show this year.

This year's feverish countdown to midnight also lasted longer than usual - an extra second - as a so-called "leap second" was introduced to compensate for a slowdown in the Earth's rotation.

Edinburgh's Hogmanay celebrations welcomes some 150,000 visitors from more than 80 countries while bringing in £42 million to the local economy.

Bosses at Edinburgh Airport had projected that more than 86,000 passengers would arrive between Christmas Day and New Year's Eve, the highest number in the period running up to Hogmanay.

Rosie Upton, 26, from Sheffield, said: "I loved it. I love coming up to Edinburgh. I don't live here anymore it's really sad.

"The backdrop is definitely the best. Edinburgh has the castle and you can't beat that.

"And everyone is so friendly - it's such a good atmosphere."

Jess Smith, 27 and Elizabeth Smith, 25, from Sydney, Australia, travelled to Scotland especially to attend Edinburgh's street party.

Jess said: "We've been travelling around the UK.

"We've had Christmas in London and now we're having Hogmanay in Edinburgh. We drove from London - it was a long drive.

"We heard that it was really fun. We are here until the January 3 and then we are flying to Dublin but we plan on going to Edinburgh Castle and going to see reindeer in the Cairngorms."

Lauren Ihle, 25 and her brother CJ, 22 from Minnesota, USA, also travelled to the city to join in the celebrations.

Mr Ihle said: "I'm having an amazing time. The hiking trails in Scotland are amazing and Edinburgh is just beautiful.

"The night is only just beginning but I heard that the fireworks are some of the best in the world and my sister has told me about a load of other cool stuff, so I think we're just looking forward to the night life which is pretty great from what I hear."

Sophie Pearn, 30, and her new husband Craig, 31, from Durham are on their honeymoon in the Scottish capital.

Ms Pearn said: "We arrived yesterday morning and we're having a fabulous time.

"We've never been before, but I'm a teacher and go back to work on January 3, so we couldn't go away on a big honeymoon, so something like this for new year was ideal for us."

According to Unique Events, organisers of Edinburgh's Hogmanay, the event was a sell-out.

Alan Thomson, director of organisers Unique Events, said: "We are very much seen as the home of Hogmanay.

"We hold our own against New York, Sydney and London, and for a population the size of Edinburgh to have such a world-class festival, people are drawn to that."

Police Scotland had "reviewed" safety plans for the event following the recent truck attack on a Christmas market in Berlin.

Security was tightened across the the UK with fears of a mass-casualty terror plot targeting one the country's New Year events following the attacks on crowded areas in Nice and Berlin.

Parties and fireworks displays were being held elsewhere across the country, with Aberdeen hosting live music and a fireworks display lighting up the skies above His Majesty's Theatre.

Partygoers experienced a largely dry evening by the time the clock chimed midnight with temperatures above freezing.

Celebrations were expected to continue through the night and into this morning when more than 1,000 new year revellers will take a bracing dip in the River Forth at South Queensferry for the annual Loony Dook.

A New Year's Day tradition for more than three decades, this year around 1,100 people have signed up and are expected to raise hundreds of thousands of pounds for charity when they run into the chilly water in the shadow of the Forth Bridges.

Ambulance staff across Scotland dealt with 2,184 calls between 7pm on Hogmanay and 7am on New Year's Day, up 35 (1.6%) on the same period last year.

Additional ambulance crews, call handlers and dispatchers were on duty and the busiest time was 1am to 4am when staff took 739 calls.

The service had a 10% increase in calls from December 23 to 27 compared with the same period last year, dealing with 9,373 calls.

Pauline Howie, chief executive of Scottish Ambulance Service, praised staff and added: "The overall level of demand for our service over the festive period has exceeded previous years and Hogmanay was one of our busiest nights of the year."