Countdown to party time

It is the biggest party night of the year. Hundreds of thousands of revellers are expected to brave the weather and terrorist threats and take to the streets, bars, restaurants and clubs to see in the New Year.

Police are warning that Trafalgar Square is closed and people should not come into central London unless they have somewhere to go. Fears of a terrorist attack have led to increased levels of security, with Scotland Yard providing 2,000 beat officers on the streets tonight and during the traditional New Year's Day parade tomorrow. They ask those who do travel in, to be "vigilant".

The rain is expected to start again around midnight - just as fireworks will be set off above the Millennium Dome.

But the good news for those determined to come into the capital is that they will be able to travel free from 11.45pm until 4am on the Tube, buses, trams and the Docklands Light Railway, which will run special services to cope with extra demand.

Even though more people than ever before are jetting abroad to celebrate, London will still be the venue for some of the country's biggest and most expensive parties, from the luxurious to the wacky.

From £895 champagne dinners at the Savoy to free flamenco on the South Bank, theatres, restaurants, bars, clubs and even cruise boats have been preparing for months for the big night. While many people will have booked their New Year's Eve celebrations months in advance too, there are still plenty of opportunities to bring in 2003 in style.

And celebrations do not need to cost the earth - with many venues putting on cheap and even free entertainment tonight and tomorrow.

The party atmosphere will also be helped by relaxed licensing hours, which are in place for the second year running. Bars and clubs have been given the right to open from 11am today until 11pm tomorrow - although none in London are known to have taken up the full period.

A spokesman for J D Wetherspoon, whose 80 London pubs will stay open until 12.30am, said: "People simply want to see in the New Year and I think 1am is late enough for many pubs to open." But one pub - The Famous Three Kings in West Kensington - will be serving until 9am tomorrow.

This year's choice of celebrations in the capital ranges from shows for children, to James Bond buffets, to a fairground at the Dome for the Ministry of Sound party.

But it will not include the traditional - and unofficial - Trafalgar Square festivities. The square is closed while refurbishment takes place, and police will turn people away who arrive in the hope of an impromptu party.

Chief Superintendent Paul Toland said: "My advice is: see in the New Year close to home or at an organised event."