In Scotland, the largest fire festival in Europe, Up Helly Aa, took place.
On the remote Shetland Islands, despite the approaching storm, hundreds of people gathered to celebrate the Up Helly Aa festival, which has its roots in Viking culture. Participants in the march, dressed in masquerade costumes, paraded through the streets of Lerwick, holding glowing torches. The culmination of the celebration was the burning of the drakkar — the traditional Viking ship. The Up Helly Aa festival, which first took place in the 1880s, has become a symbol of the end of the Yule