Earth Hour 2015 in pictures: Cities and landmarks around the world go dark to raise awareness of climate change

The world came together to rally against climate change

Parliament's Elizabeth Tower was scarcely visible for an hour as part of the global event (PA)

Cities across the world were plunged into darkness for an hour last night to mark Earth Hour 2015.

The global event is designed to raise awareness about climate change.

Landmarks including the Houses of Parliament, the Eiffel Tower, Sydney Harbour Bridge and St Basil’s Cathedral in Moscow dimmed their lights to highlight the need for change in environmental policy.

It was established in in 2007 in Australia by WWF and is now celebrated in more than 100 countries, as well as in Antarctica and the International Space Station.

Environmentally friendly Berlin turned off the lights for Earth Hour (Reuters)

St Basil's went dark in Moscow (Reuters)

Fireworks heralded the start of Earth Hour in Sydney (AFP/Getty)

Earth Hour director Sudhanshu Sarronwala said: “Earth Hour confirms our belief that in order to change climate change we need to act together.”

The spiritual home of the world's Catholics dimmed its lights along with other world landmarks (EPA)

The City of Lights went dark for an hour (EPA)

Ban Ki-Moon, the UN secretary general, echoed this in a statement he made on YouTube where he said that people coming together will play a key role in helping to solve climate change.

Lights are turned off at 8.30pm local time and the first country to flick the switch is Samoa, while Tahiti is the last to join in the spectacle.