Top news coming in to a cold San Francisco on January 1, 2013, right after the news of the stories we remember most from 2012 (See that article here: Photos: Year in review 2012, what we learned, Part 1 (Video)), is how some people enjoyed the celebrations for New Year's Eve.
In San Francisco itself, many went down to the Embarcadero to enjoy the festivities and watch the fireworks. It was estimated that around 250,000 showed up.
"It was an awesome experience, except that I heard that one person was shot in the hand. I hope they are okay," says San Francisco resident, Katie Armstrong.
Meantime, in other parts of the country, people made sure to make the most of the evening. Weather and temperature made no difference, although some were upset about the bad weather causing flight delays.
Over in the UK in Scotland, to show that temperature was not a barrier, around 1,000 swimmers were out for the New Year celebrations.
Some turned out in costume and many jumped into the River Forth in front of the Forth Road Bridge to herald in the new year. They celebrated the annual Loony Dook Swim in South Queensferry, near Edinburgh.
Check out the slideshow for more pictures taken by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images. The pictures show the swimmers in South Queensferry, Scotland and the celebrations in London, which came alive with the Olympic Games this past summer (See one article here by this Examiner: 2012 Olympics: Athlete Lolo Jones breaks down on 'Today' show (Photos)).
In Scotland, thousands braved the temperatures on Hogmany to see in the New Year 2013. You can see by the expressions on the faces, just how cold the water was.
Hogmanay is a big deal in Scotland and it's the only country in the world where January 2nd is a national holiday. That's because so many people would call into work "sick" that it was decided just to make the day a holiday.
"Aye. Good thinking that was," says Donald McAllen, a Scotsman now living in San Francisco.
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Scotland is a great place to have a reunion. See the following article by this Examiner for more on that topic:
Traveling for a reunion? Make it Glasgow, Scotland (Photos)
See another article on celebrating New Year's Eve in San Francisco here:
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