New Year’s Eve Australia LIVE UPDATES: Chaotic moment massive crowds ignore rules and race to the best vantage spots in Sydney

Wild footage captured the moment hundreds of Australians raced to get the best spot at the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney.

‘Shame on whoever started to run and break the ropes,’ the caption read.

Eager revellers were seen carrying camping equipment and bags as they ran across the park and under a boundary rope.

Social media users were quick to slam the crowd.

‘I honestly couldn’t think of anything worse,’ one wrote.

Another added: ‘Are they going to sit there all day to wait for fireworks tonight? No thanks.’

Amid sweltering conditions, limited shade and intense crowds, the number one item among NYE viewers is an umbrella.

Hundreds of people gathered around Sydney Harbour are seeking any shade they can find to escape the heat.

Many planned ahead and brought their own shelter, an umbrella, to shield themselves from the sun.

Ahead of the celebrations, medical experts have urged partygoers not to start the new year in an emergency room.

Hospitals experience an influx of new year presentations but most are preventable with common sense, the Rural Doctors Association of Australia says.

‘Unsurprisingly, over-indulging in alcohol is one of the biggest reasons why patients come to the hospital over the festive season,’ president Raymond Lewandowski said.

‘The moral to the story. Take extra care when doing activities you normally wouldn’t be doing outside the festive season, and don’t use that very moment to act the fool in front of family and friends.’

Illegal fireworks could also cost people more than their life and property, with heavy penalties across the nation.

‘The few moments of entertainment they provide is simply not worth the potential catastrophic consequences,’ WorkSafe Victoria’s Sam Jenkins said.

Spots at East Circular Quay have run out as crowds gathering for the firework display grow.

Those gathered in the lesser-known viewing areas have begin staking their claim, despite facing temperatures in the high 20Cs.

However, the Bureau of Meteorology warned celebrations could be spoiled by incoming rain.

‘It will be a little cooler along the east coast with the risk of some showers and thunderstorms,’ according to Bureau of Meteorology senior forecaster Miriam Bradbury.

‘In fact, parts of southeast Queensland and northeast NSW may see severe thunderstorms bringing heavy falls for New Year’s Eve afternoon and early evening.’

Major city celebrations should be spared most of the wet, or at least so beyond midnight. However rain and rough weather will persist across Australia’s tropical north on Wednesday, Ms Bradbury said.

The ABC’s hosts for the countdown to 2025 this year will be Charlie Pickering, Zan Rowe and Concetta Caristo.

Coverage will begin at 8.30pm and will include performances from Fanning Dempsey National Park, Casey Donovan, Cyril, Nooky and G Flip.

The event will be broadcast across the whole ABC network, including ABC TV, and be livestreamed on YouTube, Facebook, TikTok and ABC iview.

Late-arriving spectators have already been squeezed out of most of the best vantage points for this year’s fireworks.

The City of Sydney has shared a map of NYE vantage points with live updates on capacity.

It has flagged Blues Point, Bennelong Lawn, Sydney Opera House, Tarpeian Lawn and Hickson Rd Reserve as full.

Mrs Macquaries Point is almost at capacity.

Festivities for New Year’s Eve will kick off at 7.30pm with a smoking ritual followed by a Welcome to Country address at 8.30pm.

The speech will be quickly followed by the Harbour Bridge’s pylons being lit with projections and Callling Country Fireworks at 9pm.

Boats covered in festive lights will start moving around the harbour from 9.15pm.

British singer Robbie Williams will host a live singalong from 11.45pm, followed by the highly-anticipated fireworks display at midnight.

Hundreds have flooded the spots touted as Sydney’s best viewing for the New Year’s Eve fireworks.

Yet even those who headed towards the harbour this morning have missed out on the most coveted seats with some dedicated spectators arriving as early as 1am.

The line to for the Bradfield Park vantage point in North Sydney was already 350m long at 7am.

By 11am, Fleet Steps, Blues Point and the Sydney Opera House were almost at full capacity.

The crowds at this year’s event are expected to be the largest on record with millions more set to tune into Tv coverage.

The New Year’s Eve fireworks were saved after an eleventh hour deal between the rail unions and the NSW government last week.

Revellers had been worried about the threatened cancellation of the fireworks due to train strikes amid an ongoing wage battle.

A Christmas Eve hearing fizzled out with the Fair Work Commission agreeing the union had dropped enough action for there to be a negligible risk to the New Year’s celebrations.

Thousands of Aussies have turned up to vantage points across Sydney Harbour ahead of the fireworks.