New Year revellers defy storms and icy weather

Wild weather may have washed out New Year's Eve celebrations across Britain but the party spirit remained firmly intact yesterday.

As many parts of the country counted the cost of cancelled events, hardy revellers took to the beach or braved cold seas while half a million people turned out for a large parade through central London.

In Brighton, 20,000 people danced off their hangovers at an open-air beachside concert organised by Fatboy Slim.

The DJ, also known as Norman Cook, provoked fears over public safety the last time he held a gig on Brighton beach in July 2002 because the party attracted 250,000 people instead of the anticipated 60,000.

Yesterday only 20,000 people, who had to have a Brighton postcode to buy the £30 tickets, were admitted.

After the show the DJ said: "I love the people of Brighton. They stood there and took everything the elements could chuck at them and still partied on.

"Playing in Brighton, to a local audience, is the best way to start 2007."

Earlier, dozens of swimmers braved icy conditions in Brighton to take a New Year's Day swim in the sea.

Members of the Brighton Swimming Club took to the water near the city's pier. Keith Marlton, 69, who is on the club's management committee, said: "Rain and snow doesn't worry us. It was very nice to get a clear head after last night's celebrations. I would recommend it."

Dozens of swimmers also braved the chilly waters of the North Sea. About 50 people welcomed the start of 2007 with a morning splash off the Northern Promenade of Whitley Bay on the North-east coast.

New Year's Day swims also due to take place around the country included St David's in Wales, Loch Lomond in Scotland and Bexhill-on-Sea in Sussex.

An estimated half a million people lined the streets of London for the New Year's Day parade, which took place under blue skies and fine winter sunshine. It came the morning after 350,000 people had watched a fireworks spectacular on the Thames Embankment.

Performers included American majorettes and marching bands, Russian dancers, riders on penny-farthing cycles, miniature steam engines, a Hindu Scottish pipe band, and a drove of donkeys. The Queen joined in by sending her own New Year message to the parade.

Among the 10,000 participants were the Fort Myers High School Marching Band. They had to fight a travel ban by Florida education chiefs which they imposed because of fears about safety in London after the July 7 attacks.

A parade spokesman, Dan Kirkby,said: "I think it is an absolute triumph. The numbers of people and the quality of the parade this year have been fantastic.

However, officials in northern England and Scotland are today filing insurance claims for cancelled events. Driving rain and gusts of up to 70 miles an hour put paid to concerts and firework displays in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Newcastle, Liverpool and Belfast.

Police and ambulance services were also counting the cost of celebrations. Between midnight and 4am, the London Ambulance Service said it dealt with 1,562 calls, up eight per cent on last year. The LAS's assistant director of operations, Ian Todd, said: "At the busiest point our staff were taking over 450 calls an hour." Essex Police said they received more than 800 emergency calls in seven hours over the night.

Staffordshire Police said 53 people were arrested, mainly for offences of violence related to alcohol.

A spokesman for the North-east Ambulance Service said there had been a " significant increase" in calls over last year.

In the West Midlands, however, the ambulance service said the bad weather led to a quieter than expected New Year. The number of calls was 11 per cent down on last year in Birmingham, the Black Country and Shropshire.

The storms in the north left 26,000 homes in Scotland without power over Hogmanay while, in Cumbria, a 55-year-old woman was killed when walking in the South Beach area of Whitehaven after part of a cliff collapsed above her.