Fewer people turned out to celebrate New Year's Eve in Brisbane as menacing weather threatened to dampen outdoor festivities in southeast Queensland.
Superintendent Tony Fleming says police were kept busy on Sunday night, but crowd numbers were down, including during the 8.30pm fireworks display.
"Particularly around our South Bank area, some mums and dads took the safe option and went home," Supt Fleming said.
It was a sticky end to 2017 for many southeast Queenslanders as the humidity and temperature remained high, with the mercury dipping to only 24.2C overnight.
Storms had threatened to wreak havoc on Brisbane celebrations but instead washed out Ipswich and forced the council to cancel its plans.
"Storms dumped enough rain to make it unsafe to complete set-up. Safety concerns for the public have also been taken into consideration," the Ipswich City Council said on Facebook.
Meanwhile, power has been restored to parts of the state's south after more than 180,000 lightning strikes throughout Sunday left hundreds of homes and businesses in the dark.
Supt Fleming said while the weather did thin out crowds, people in Brisbane were generally quite well behaved.
Officers made a total 18 arrests in the Brisbane area, mainly for public nuisance, obstruct police and drug offences.
"It was just a business as usual night with a special event built in on top," Supt Fleming said.
Almost 70,000 people flocked to watch fireworks on the Gold Coast, which also had reasonably subdued revelry.
There were no major incidents, but a car was driven onto the light rail overpass near Griffith University.
Police removed the vehicle and are looking for the driver.
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk wished the state a Happy New Year on Twitter, sharing a photo of her dog Winton and her dad Henry Palaszczuk getting ready for New Year's Eve.
"Have a safe night and here's to a great 2018," Ms Palaszczuk said on Sunday.
