SEVENTY YEARS AGO today, 8 May 1945 was declared Victory in Europe Day bringing the Second World War in Europe officially to a close.

Hitler having committed suicide on 30 April in Berlin, Germany’s surrender was officially approved by his successor, Admiral Karl Donitz.

The act of military surrender was signed at Reims in north-east France on 7 May, and then in Berlin on the following day.

The war would carry on for another four months until Japan officially surrendered on 2 September, but VE Day meant at least that an end was finally in sight.

Here’s some of the scenes that unfolded around the globe after a halt was finally called to six long years of terrible war.

British prime minister Winston Churchill salutes the gathered crowds at Whitehall Wikipedia Wikipedia

Huge crowds throng Trafalgar Square in London PA Archive / Press Association Images PA Archive / Press Association Images / Press Association Images

US president Harry S. Truman (standing) delivers the news of Germany's surrender to White House reporters AP / Press Association Images AP / Press Association Images / Press Association Images

Two men climb a lamp post in London's west end during the celebrations AP / Press Association Images AP / Press Association Images / Press Association Images

Crowds mass at the Arc de Triomphe on VE Day, 1945 AP / Press Association Images AP / Press Association Images / Press Association Images

The British royal family and Churchill salute crowds from Buckingham Palace (Queen Elizabeth, then Princess, is on the far left) AP / Press Association Images AP / Press Association Images / Press Association Images

Grand Central Station, New York, VE Day AP / Press Association Images AP / Press Association Images / Press Association Images

Dwight Eisenhower, supreme commander Allied forces, makes a V for victory after the surrender at Reims AP / Press Association Images AP / Press Association Images / Press Association Images

The signed document of surrender from Reims Wikipedia Wikipedia

US Military Policemen reading about the German surrender in the newspapers Wikipedia Wikipedia

Sir Gordon Lethem, governor of British Guiana, announces Germany's surrender to the public from government buildings in Georgetown AP / Press Association Images AP / Press Association Images / Press Association Images

The Statue of Liberty, New York, illuminated for the first time in 4 years on VE Day, 1945 AP / Press Association Images AP / Press Association Images / Press Association Images

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