AAP: FESTIVITIES are ramping up across Australia as the nation prepares to farewell 2024 but rain may dampen the spirits of some.
Another year is ending and Australians are poised to ring in 2025 with typical style and fanfare.
But what was expected to be an almost perfect evening weatherwise is now threatening to deliver spoiling downpours for some revellers.
“It will be a little cooler along the east coast with the risk of some showers and thunderstorms,” according to Bureau of Meteorology senior forecaster Miriam Bradbury.
“In fact, parts of southeast Queensland and northeast NSW may see severe thunderstorms bringing heavy falls for New Year’s Eve afternoon and early evening.”
Major city celebrations should be spared most of the wet, or at least so beyond midnight.
However, rain and rough weather will persist across Australia’s tropical north on Wednesday, Ms Bradbury said.
Ahead of the celebrations, medical experts have urged partygoers not to start the new year in an emergency room.
Hospitals experience an influx of new year presentations but most are preventable with common sense, the Rural Doctors Association of Australia says.
“Unsurprisingly, over-indulging in alcohol is one of the biggest reasons why patients come to the hospital over the festive season,” president Raymond Lewandowski said.
“The moral to the story. Take extra care when doing activities you normally wouldn’t be doing outside the festive season, and don’t use that very moment to act the fool in front of family and friends.”
Illegal fireworks could also cost people more than their life and property, with heavy penalties across the nation.
“The few moments of entertainment they provide is simply not worth the potential catastrophic consequences,” WorkSafe Victoria’s Sam Jenkins said.
In his new year message, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said 2025 was an opportunity for Australia to get “back on track” as the federal election loomed.
“Australians have become worse off, and our nation has gone backwards,” Mr Dutton said.
In his New Year’s message, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese wished Australians well and thanked those who worked through the holiday period.
“We live in the greatest country in the world, and in the year ahead – with new determination and renewed optimism – we can build an even stronger Australia together,” he said.
I know things are still tough, but with wages rising and inflation going down, we’re heading into 2025 with determination and optimism.
Because working together we can build a stronger Australia. pic.twitter.com/FcNDuFZQTT— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) December 30, 2024
Sydney’s famous fireworks will dazzle more than a million revellers flocking to the iconic harbour.
The city will set the tone with 20 minutes of pyrotechnics in two displays, eight water-based firework platforms and new animal-based designs shooting from the top of the Sydney Opera House sails.
More than half a million revellers are set to converge in Melbourne, with fireworks set to light up the sky from 27 points along with 60 laser projections.
About 80,000 individual fireworks will also explode across Brisbane’s skyline and more up and down Gold and Sunshine coasts.
In Adelaide, fireworks, food trucks and live music are set to lure about 25,000 to the Torrens Riverbank with more than 400,000 people expected to visit the city on New Year’s Eve.
Perth will be treated to two explosive displays, one at 8.30pm from a barge on the Swan River and a second midnight display to announce the arrival of 2025.
In Tasmania, Launceston will combine fireworks with a festival to showcase more than 40 of the island state’s fine food and drink producers at the seventh annual BeerFest in Royal Park on New Year’s Eve.
