The traditional focus of the United Kingdom’s televised New Year’s Eve countdown is Big Ben, the nickname commonly used for the great clock bell at the Palace of Westminster.
At midnight, broadcasts often feature the clock tower and the striking of its hour bell, making the sound a familiar marker of the new year across the United Kingdom. Technically, “Big Ben” refers to the bell rather than the entire tower. The tower was officially renamed the Elizabeth Tower in 2012 in honor of Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee.
The clock tower was completed in the nineteenth century as part of Charles Barry and Augustus Pugin’s Palace of Westminster. The Great Bell first sounded in 1859. Big Ben’s chimes have sometimes been limited during restoration, maintenance, or national events, so televised celebrations may combine live sound with recorded or carefully managed broadcasts. The London Eye is also prominent in the city’s fireworks, but it is not the clock landmark named here.