TENS of thousands of people have taken part in a massive torchlight procession through Edinburgh to start the city’s new year celebrations.

Organisers of the capital’s Hogmanay celebrations shared a breathtaking aerial view image to show the scale of the event, in which around 40,000 people are expected to have taken part on Sunday night.

The image shows participants gathering in Holyrood Park at the foot of the Royal Mile where the outline of Scotland was lit up with flame torches.

2018 was referred to as the Year of Young People in which Scotland saw a year full of events which gave young people the opportunity to stand out.

Captioning the stunning image on Twitter, the Edinburgh Hogmanay post read: “Young People set our hearts on fire tonight at the spectacular Torchlight Procession, the opening of Edinburgh’s Hogmanay. Edinburgh and Scotland are welcoming the world.”

Locals and tourists – along with pipers, drummers and dance groups – made their way down the Royal Mile from Edinburgh Castle during the event.

Edinburgh’s Hogmanay will continue on Monday with the annual street party and a headline set by Franz Ferdinand in Princes Street Gardens.

Bands, DJs, street performers, dancers, acrobats and fire eaters from Scotland and mainland Europe will be performing at the street party, which starts at 7.30pm.

There will be music across three stages, with Gerry Cinnamon headlining the Waverley stage.

Organisers said this year’s events celebrate the ties between Scotland and Europe as the UK prepares to leave the EU in 2019.