London, UK
A butcher hands over some produce during the annual Christmas eve auction at Smithfield meat market, in the City of London
Photograph: Jill Mead/The Guardian
California, US
The pier at the Santa Cruz Wharf, which collapsed into the ocean and floated away on Monday, weather authorities said, as the region was pounded by a powerful storm. Lifeguards rescued two people after the structure in Santa Cruz broke free, firefighters said, while a third person managed to get themselves out of trouble
Photograph: Daniel Dreifuss/AFP/Getty Images
Sana’a, Yemen
Houthi tribesmen shout slogans and brandish their weapons during an anti-US and anti-Israel gathering. Yemen’s Houthis have been recruiting more fighters as part of a mobilisation campaign amid high tensions with the US and Israel. The Houthis have vowed to keep up missile and drone attacks on Israel and shipping lanes in the seas around Yemen
Photograph: Yahya Arhab/EPA
Deir al-Balah, Gaza
A Palestinian mother holds her five-year-old daughter, who is suffering from malnutrition, at a shelter in the central Gaza Strip
Photograph: Eyad Baba/AFP/Getty Images
Tynemouth, UK
The DFDS King Seaways arrives at the mouth of the Tyne at sunrise. The Met Office has forecast a mild Christmas with notably high temperatures over the festive period
Photograph: Owen Humphreys/PA
London, UK
Last-minute shoppers on Christmas Eve in Oxford Street
Photograph: Yui Mok/PA
Ayutthaya, Thailand
A Thai mahout and elephant distribute gifts to students during a Christmas celebration at Jirasartwitthaya school
Photograph: Rungroj Yongrit/EPA
Sydney, Australia
Last-minute shoppers on Christmas Eve
Photograph: Bianca de Marchi/AAP
Seoul, South Korea
People enjoy sledging at a riverside park in the capital
Photograph: Yonhap/EPA
Tokyo, Japan
A diver swims with African penguins at Sunshine Aquarium
Photograph: Issei Kato/Reuters
Sarajevo, Bosnia
City traffic during heavy snowfall in the capital
Photograph: Armin Durgut/AP
Jiangsu, China
A woman works at a textile factory in Siyang county, Suqian municipality. China will raise its deficit in order to boost spending next year, its finance minister said on 24 December, as Beijing looks to prop up its struggling economy
Photograph: AFP/Getty Images
Pokhara, Nepal
Hot air balloons rise in the sky during the international hot air balloon festival
Photograph: Prakash Mathema/AFP/Getty Images
Bethlehem, West Bank
The Church of the Nativity prepares for a visit by the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Pierbattista Pizzaballa
Photograph: Mohamad Torokman/Reuters
Damascus, Syria
A volunteer regulates traffic in the capital
Photograph: Yamam Al Shaar/Reuters
Yajiang county, China
The Kela photovoltaic power station, the world’s largest and highest-altitude hydropower and PV power station, in the Garzê Tibetan Autonomous prefecture, Sichuan province
Photograph: Xue Di/China News Service/Getty Images
Cartagena, Spain
Survivors of the sinking of the Russian cargo ship Ursa Major disembark from a Spanish maritime rescue ship
Photograph: Jose Maria Rodriguez/Reuters
Banda Aceh, Indonesia
Tourists visit a tsunami memorial site where a boat remains preserved after being swept on to a roof by the 2004 tsunami. Twenty years ago, on 26 December 2004, a 9.1-magnitude earthquake off Indonesia’s western tip triggered a huge tsunami across the Indian Ocean that killed more than 220,000 people in 14 countries
Photograph: Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP/Getty Images
Wieliczka, Poland
Hundreds of miners, their families, and friends gather for the earliest midnight mass on Christmas Eve, held 101 meters (331ft) underground at the St Kinga chapel in the Wieliczka salt mine, a Unesco world heritage site. The miners’ midnight mass originally took place at 6am on Christmas Eve, allowing two shifts – those finishing work and those beginning – to unite in worship
Photograph: Artur Widak/Anadolu/Getty Images
Winchester, UK
The Hampshire Youth Band plays Christmas carols for shoppers on the high street
Photograph: Andrew Matthews/PA
Tokyo, Japan
People take pictures in front of a Christmas tree in the Hibiya area
Photograph: Philip Fong/AFP/Getty Images
County Down, UK
Laura Hawkins takes part in the annual Christmas Eve swim in aid of local charities at Helen’s Bay, Northern Ireland
Photograph: Liam McBurney/PA
Hampshire, UK
Christmas Eve travellers on the M3 motorway near Winchester
Photograph: Andrew Matthews/PA
English (US)