15 images of Manchester at its sparkly best in countdown before Christmas

Visitors to the city centre since Manchester's legendary Christmas Markets opened five weeks ago, have been making the most of all the seasonal selfie opportunities presented by the brand-new lights - with those on St Peter's Square and Albert Square proving themselves clear winners in the selfie stakes as people queue up for their chance to grab a snap and make a memory with their family and friends.

This year's lighting scheme has been designed with Manchester at its heart, including as it does lots of new-for-this-year installations and displays that are themed around Manchester's history and heritage, including bees, honeycomb patterns and warm golden honey-like tones to the twinkling lights themselves.