Justin Beiber is 'loving the UK' as he kicks of tour in Manchester

Bieber fever is reaching a peak in Manchester as the Canadian singer kicks off his UK tour in the city tonight.

The Manchester Arena is the venue for the first night of the UK leg of the 18-year-old's Believe tour that has seen him perform most recently in Dublin.

After two nights in the northern city, Bieber will move on to Sheffield, Liverpool, Birmingham and Nottingham, before spending four nights performing at London's O2 arena.

He will be supported by "Call Me Maybe" singer Carly Rae Jepsen and Australian singer Cody Simpson on the tour.

The star, who has the highest number of followers on Twitter, has been keeping fans up to date with his movements.

He said he was "loving the UK" and sent a series of tweets in the early hours of Wednesday morning when out with fellow singer Will.i.am, one saying: "love to my guy iamwill . good times my friend. to the future! haha. £london."

The pair had been shoe shopping earlier in the day and posted pictures of outlandish footwear on the site.

An excited fan who will be seeing Bieber on the second night of his tour wrote on Twitter: "Hasn't really kicked in that on Friday we'll be watching Justin Bieber in Manchester ahhh."

Another wrote: "Guys.. I'm going to see Justin Bieber tomorrow in Manchester I can't contain my excitement no more."

Many people also wrote on Twitter that they were hoping to catch a glimpse of the Baby singer as he travels across the UK.

Bieber, famous for hits like "Boyfriend" and "Never Say Never", was discovered in 2007 after posting videos of himself singing online and he was given a record deal at the age of 13.

PA