Fireworks celebrating the traditional Guy Fawkes night of November 5th exploding above a row of houses in London.

Fireworks are not allowed past 1am on New Year’s Day, 2026 (Image: Getty)

Another year is almost over, and however your 2025 may have gone, the last thing you want to do is ring in the New Year with a £90 fine. That’s why households are being urged to take note of a little-known rule governing fireworks tonight.

Blowing up gunpowder in the sky is part of the annual traditions every New Year, along with Jools Holland and Auld Lang Syne, and tonight, as with any other year, the skies will be lighting up with hundreds if not thousands of fireworks.

But no matter where you live, there’s usually that one household which thinks it’s OK to keep on setting fireworks off well past midnight.

According to the law, you could actually be slapped with a fine for this, if you break the special time limit for setting off fireworks on New Year’s Eve into New Year’s Day 2026.

The government explains that on New Year’s Eve, you can set off fireworks legally until 1am (which would actually make it New Year’s Day and in 2026 as it’s past midnight).

After this time, you’re liable for an on-the-spot fine of £90 if you continue to set off fireworks past 1am.

It says via gov.uk: “The law says you must not set off or throw fireworks (including sparklers) in the street or other public places.

“You must not set off fireworks between 11pm and 7am, except for:

“Bonfire Night, when the cut off is midnight.

“New Year’s Eve, Diwali and Chinese New Year, when the cut off is 1am.”

Crucially, you also can’t legally buy fireworks after December 31, so if you decided to postpone your celebrations to tomorrow or Friday night for some reason, you won’t be able to legally buy any fireworks on January 1 or January 2.

It adds: “You can only buy fireworks (including sparklers) from registered sellers for private use on these dates:

 

“At other times you can only buy fireworks from licensed shops.

“The fine can be unlimited, and can also lead to a six-month prison sentence. There’s also a £90 spot fine, which can also be applied to setting off fireworks past time.”

It adds: “You can be fined an unlimited amount and imprisoned for up to six months for selling or using fireworks illegally. You could also get an on-the-spot fine of £90.”