German police secure the main train station in Munich January 1, 2016. German police evacuated two train stations in Munich late on Thursday, saying on Twitter they had received a tip regarding a planned militant attack on New Year’s Eve in the Bavarian capital. REUTERS/Michael Dalder TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

Europe ushered in the New Year with heightened security fears on Friday as German police evacuated two train stations in Munich, citing a tip about a planned militant attack, and Belgium arrested three people over an alleged plot.

Security forces in many capitals were on raised alert after a year of militant attacks, the biggest of which killed 130 in Paris in November and was claimed by ISIS.

Soldiers were on the streets of Paris, and police forces in London, Madrid, Berlin and Istanbul increased their presence as Europeans turned out to celebrate the arrival of 2016.

In New York, police tightened security for the traditional New Year’s Eve dropping of the crystal ball in Times Square, where more than a million people were expected.

Celebrations in Germany took on a somber note when police warned of a possible terror attack and evacuated two train stations in Munich.

A police spokeswoman said a search for possible suspects had been launched and a tweet message from German police said “we take the threat very seriously”.

In Belgium, police were holding three people for questioning on Thursday as part of an investigation into an alleged plot to carry out an attack in Brussels on New Year’s Eve.

Authorities on Wednesday called off the usual New Year’s Eve fireworks display in the capital, citing fears of a possible militant attack.

Police had initially detained six people after searches at six locations in the Belgian capital and one just outside the city. They also seized computers, mobile phones and equipment for airsoft, a sport using guns that shoot non-lethal plastic pellets.

Three of the six were released late on Thursday. Prosecutors said they were holding the other three for a further 24 hours.

French President Francois Hollande said on Thursday the country was “not finished with terrorism” and used a New Year’s message to defend controversial plans to strip citizenship from those convicted of terrorism offences.

“The threat is still there,” he said in a televised address. “It remains in fact at its highest level, and we are regularly disrupting planned attacks.”

In Istanbul, a bridge between the continents of Europe and Asia, police said they had ramped up the number of officers on the streets by around 10,000.

Turkish police on Wednesday detained two suspected ISIS members they believe to have been plotting New Year’s Eve suicide attacks in the capital Ankara, where less than three months ago a double suicide bombing killed more than 100 people.

Last year was the deadliest year of militant attacks in Europe since 2004. Evidence that two of the Nov. 13 Paris attackers had entered the continent under cover of a wave of Middle Eastern refugees heightened anxieties over the migration crisis.

Related articles across the web

• Europe adds two more satellites to Galileo sat-nav system
• European car sales soar 13.7% in November, VW trails
• Feature: Has Europe Reached the Breaking Point?
• Hip to fund Square: 360 Capital Partners kickstarts new €35 million seed fund for European startups
• H.I.G. buys two UK shopping centers
• Paris Attacks: A Wake Up Call For Europe's Security Theatre
• Feature: Has Europe Reached the Breaking Point?
• European payload selected for ExoMars 2018 surface platform
• Not all Syrians in Turkey 'dying to go to Europe'
• Swiss police searching Geneva for suspects over Paris attacks