Photos of the day

A Christmas Eve dip and a swimming Santa: photos of the day – Tuesday

The Guardian’s picture editors select photographs from around the world

London, UK

A butcher hands over some produce during the annual Christmas eve auction at Smithfield meat market, in the City of London

Photograph: Jill Mead/The Guardian

California, US

The pier at the Santa Cruz Wharf, which collapsed into the ocean and floated away on Monday, weather authorities said, as the region was pounded by a powerful storm. Lifeguards rescued two people after the structure in Santa Cruz broke free, firefighters said, while a third person managed to get themselves out of trouble

Photograph: Daniel Dreifuss/AFP/Getty Images

Sana’a, Yemen

Houthi tribesmen shout slogans and brandish their weapons during an anti-US and anti-Israel gathering. Yemen’s Houthis have been recruiting more fighters as part of a mobilisation campaign amid high tensions with the US and Israel. The Houthis have vowed to keep up missile and drone attacks on Israel and shipping lanes in the seas around Yemen

Photograph: Yahya Arhab/EPA

Deir al-Balah, Gaza

A Palestinian mother holds her five-year-old daughter, who is suffering from malnutrition, at a shelter in the central Gaza Strip

Photograph: Eyad Baba/AFP/Getty Images

Tynemouth, UK

The DFDS King Seaways arrives at the mouth of the Tyne at sunrise. The Met Office has forecast a mild Christmas with notably high temperatures over the festive period

Photograph: Owen Humphreys/PA

London, UK

Last-minute shoppers on Christmas Eve in Oxford Street

Photograph: Yui Mok/PA

Ayutthaya, Thailand

A Thai mahout and elephant distribute gifts to students during a Christmas celebration at Jirasartwitthaya school

Photograph: Rungroj Yongrit/EPA

Sydney, Australia

Last-minute shoppers on Christmas Eve

Photograph: Bianca de Marchi/AAP

Seoul, South Korea

People enjoy sledging at a riverside park in the capital

Photograph: Yonhap/EPA

Tokyo, Japan

A diver swims with African penguins at Sunshine Aquarium

Photograph: Issei Kato/Reuters

Sarajevo, Bosnia

City traffic during heavy snowfall in the capital

Photograph: Armin Durgut/AP

Jiangsu, China

A woman works at a textile factory in Siyang county, Suqian municipality. China will raise its deficit in order to boost spending next year, its finance minister said on 24 December, as Beijing looks to prop up its struggling economy

Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

Pokhara, Nepal

Hot air balloons rise in the sky during the international hot air balloon festival

Photograph: Prakash Mathema/AFP/Getty Images

Bethlehem, West Bank

The Church of the Nativity prepares for a visit by the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Pierbattista Pizzaballa

Photograph: Mohamad Torokman/Reuters

Damascus, Syria

A volunteer regulates traffic in the capital

Photograph: Yamam Al Shaar/Reuters

Yajiang county, China

The Kela photovoltaic power station, the world’s largest and highest-altitude hydropower and PV power station, in the Garzê Tibetan Autonomous prefecture, Sichuan province

Photograph: Xue Di/China News Service/Getty Images

Cartagena, Spain

Survivors of the sinking of the Russian cargo ship Ursa Major disembark from a Spanish maritime rescue ship

Photograph: Jose Maria Rodriguez/Reuters

Banda Aceh, Indonesia

Tourists visit a tsunami memorial site where a boat remains preserved after being swept on to a roof by the 2004 tsunami. Twenty years ago, on 26 December 2004, a 9.1-magnitude earthquake off Indonesia’s western tip triggered a huge tsunami across the Indian Ocean that killed more than 220,000 people in 14 countries

Photograph: Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP/Getty Images

Wieliczka, Poland

Hundreds of miners, their families, and friends gather for the earliest midnight mass on Christmas Eve, held 101 meters (331ft) underground at the St Kinga chapel in the Wieliczka salt mine, a Unesco world heritage site. The miners’ midnight mass originally took place at 6am on Christmas Eve, allowing two shifts – those finishing work and those beginning – to unite in worship

Photograph: Artur Widak/Anadolu/Getty Images

Winchester, UK

The Hampshire Youth Band plays Christmas carols for shoppers on the high street

Photograph: Andrew Matthews/PA

Tokyo, Japan

People take pictures in front of a Christmas tree in the Hibiya area

Photograph: Philip Fong/AFP/Getty Images

County Down, UK

Laura Hawkins takes part in the annual Christmas Eve swim in aid of local charities at Helen’s Bay, Northern Ireland

Photograph: Liam McBurney/PA

Hampshire, UK

Christmas Eve travellers on the M3 motorway near Winchester

Photograph: Andrew Matthews/PA