Hundreds of people braved the bitter cold to see the New Year in with a bang in Belfast city centre last night.

Indie guitar-pop giants Supergrass joined fellow rockers Pigeon Detectives as headliners at the open air concert at the city hall.

The freezing temperatures didn’t deter hundreds of revellers who gathered to join the traditional countdown to welcome in 2009.

Supergrass are the outfit behind hits 'Alright', 'Going Out' and 'Pumping on your Stereo'.

With chart success dating back over a decade, they toured this year with Arctic Monkeys and Coldplay.

The Pigeon Detectives are favourites of BBC Radio 1 DJs Steve Lamacq and Jo Whiley.

Local bands General Fiasco and Fighting With Wire also joined the line-up. Both were part of this year's Belsonic line-up and were tipped as emerging talents.

The event was compered by TV and radio presenter Ralph McLean. A free Metro service was provided to take concert-goers home.

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Meanwhile, there was an extra reason to celebrate the change of year as partygoers were given an extra second to enjoy the celebrations.

Thanks to the earth's erratic rotation, the countdown to 2009 lasted a moment longer.

British physicists and official timekeepers around the world have inserted a "leap second" to bring the most accurate atomic clocks in line with the astronomical day.

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In London last night police dealt with an influx of more than 700,000 partygoers for the capital's riverside fireworks display.

Scottish revellers were also joined by thousands of visitors as a 100,000-strong crowd gathered in Edinburgh for the city's famous Hogmanay street party.

As well as the ever-popular outdoor event, the city boasted no fewer than six major music and dance parties.

Vocalist Andy Abraham, who came last in the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest with his entry Even If, was set to welcome 2009 in Cardiff as part of the city's outdoor Calennig celebrations.

But many people were planning to stay at home in response to forecasters' predictions.

Australia to Hong Kong: one side of the world welcomes 2009 with fireworks displays

Sydney was the first major city to see the opening minutes of 2009.

Organisers kicked off the world's celebrations with a record 5,000kg (5.5 tons) of pyrotechnics over the famous Harbour Bridge in the city's biggest display yet.

However tens of thousands of British ex-pats in the Gulf state had to plan alternative New Year's Eve celebrations after all public parties were cancelled.

Dubai's ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, called off festivities following the violence in Gaza.

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