Big Ben, situated within the city's Palace of Westminster, will ring in the United Kingdom's new year for the first time since restoration works began in 2017.
The overhaul of the Elizabeth Tower forms one small part of multi-billion-dollar refurbishment of the Palace of Westminster, which is home to both British houses of parliament.
The Guardian reported in 2017 that the palace caught fire 40 times between 2008 and 2012, while some of the pipes and cables running through the building date back to the 19th-century. "The longer this essential work is left, the greater the risk that the building will suffer a sudden catastrophic failure that makes the building uninhabitable and brings a sudden stop to the work of Parliament," it said.
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