Star Wars: The Force Awakens trailer: Twitter reacts to Millennium Falcon and light sabers

The first glimpse of JJ Abrams' new film has been released online

Today marked a very important day in the life of Star Wars fans everywhere - the first teaser trailer for The Force Awakens dropped online, sending Twitter into meltdown.

Reactions to the first glimpse of JJ Abrams' 2015 blockbuster were mostly supremely positive, with many verging on ecstatic.

Here are some of the most excitable reactions:

The sand dunes, Storm Troopers and the Siths are all back for the new Star Wars. Daisy Ridley is seen wearing a rather fetching headdress and John Boyega appears as a Storm Trooper in a clip that highlights the new talent rather than focusing on returning original cast members Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill.

The hotly-awaited movie will pick up thirty years after the events of George Lucas' Return of the Jedi in 1983.

The trailer's arrival comes after a U-turn by Disney, which initially announced it would debut the first teaser exclusively in some US and Canadian cinemas.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens is due to reach UK cinemas on 18 December 2015.