Twitter Crashes on new year's eve: 16,197 tweets per second

All a Twitter: Users were
devastated that the network crashed

Social network Twitter ground to a halt yesterday as it was overloaded with New Year messages. In Britain the site crashed at about 3pm and was out of action for more than an hour.

It coincided with midnight celebrations in Japan when revellers were sending a record 16,197 tweets per second.

The overload meant no one could post new messages or read existing ones. Instead, frustrated users were greeted with the error message: 'Twitter is over capacity.'

The site returned to working order but then stopped on several other occasions, prompting speculation that it was being hit by the arrival of New Year in different parts of the world.

One user tweeted: 'It's amazing how three words can ruin my day! Twitter over capacity.'

Another joked: 'Twitter's New Year resolution needs to be I will never go over capacity.'

Out with a bang: Fireworks welcomed in the new year, but
Tweeters were silenced because of the crashed website

The meltdown happened as the world welcomed in 2012, a year of historic importance for Britain, with the Olympics, the Paralympics and the Queen's Diamond Jubilee set to be defining moments.

Up to 250,000 people poured into Central London, some in Trafalgar Square and others watching the pyrotechnics centred on the London Eye.

A total of 12,000 fireworks were primed to explode in an 11-minute spectacular as Big Ben struck midnight.

There were 3,000 police officers on duty in London, while London Ambulance Service expected a huge surge in 999 calls and set up 14 'treatment centres' for revellers.

So-called 'booze buses' were also deployed for people suffering alcohol-related illnesses or injuries so ambulances were freed up for patients needing more serious treatment.

Large crowds also gathered in Edinburgh for the famous Hogmanay street party, while Cardiff's annual Calennig celebrations also featured a firework display at midnight.

However, fireworks planned for Manchester city centre were cancelled after the event failed to find a sponsor. And in Weymouth, Dorset, about 20,000 revellers gathered for the New Year's Eve fancy dress party, which has been running for the past 20 years.

Earlier, in Sydney, more than a million people gathered at vantage points along the harbour to watch the spectacular pyrotechnics display, which again featured the arch of the bridge as its focal point.

The first places to celebrate were the South Pacific islands of Samoa and Tokelau. They are usually the last, but they jumped across the international dateline – missing out on December 30 entirely.

Bad weather forced New Zealand to cancel several outdoor events, but a low-key fireworks display went ahead at Auckland's Sky Tower. Heavy rain meant celebrations on Wellington's waterfront were called off.

'We hate having to cancel events but especially for something like New Year's Eve,' said Wellington's events manager Lauren Fantham.

In Tokyo, people released helium balloons in front of the Tokyo Tower at midnight with notes attached listing their hopes for 2012.

Many wished for a better year, following the earthquake and tsunami of 2011. 'I hope it will be a year full of smiles.

For those who are crying now, I hope they'll be smiling too,' said 21-year-old Horie Soichiro.

In a downbeat message, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said 2012 would be more difficult than 2011, but hoped Europe's debt crisis would bring its member states closer.

Meanwhile, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon said he hoped the new year would continue the move towards democracy that protesters had started during the Arab Spring.

Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin's New Year's greetings came mixed with sarcasm toward those protesting that his election back to the presidency had been fixed.

He wished prosperity 'to all our citizens regardless of their political persuasion, including those who sympathise with leftist force'.

At his traditional New Year's Eve service, the Pope said: 'We await a New Year with the trepidation, desires and expectations of always.'

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