Armistice centenary in 100 pictures: UK falls silent as nation honours fallen heroes on Remembrance Sunday

The UK fell silent today as people united at services across the country to honour those who lost their lives in the First World War.

Prince Charles led the nation’s tributes on the centenary of Armistice Day as he laid a wreath at the Cenotaph on behalf of the Queen.

The event marked 100 years since the signing of the treaty which ended the battle on the Western Front at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918.

Big Ben sounded 11 times when the clock struck 11am as the nation honoured the Armistice centenary and also remembered all those who have lost their lives in conflict.

Veterans attend the annual Remembrance Sunday memorial in London (Getty Images)

Ten thousand people then took part in a moving "People's Procession" in central London as a "nation's thank you" to the fallen soldiers.

Meanwhile in France, French President Emmanuel Macron was joined by some 70 world leaders for a ceremony at the foot of the Arc de Triomphe, where an unknown soldier killed in the Great War is buried.

He led an address and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, US President Donald Trump, and Russian President Vladimir Putin were among those attending.

Testimonies written by soldiers on November 1918, as the ceasefire took hold, were read by high school students in French, English and German.

For the first time, a German leader laid a wreath at the Cenotaph, with President Frank-Walter Steinmeier performing the duty on behalf of his nation in an historic act of reconciliation between the two countries.

A veteran comforts a girl at the National Memorial Arboretum (PA)

Elsewhere, portraits of First World War soldiers were drawn onto breaches across the UK as part of a project organised by film director Danny Boyle.

The thinking behind the ‘Pages of the Sea’ project is that people have a moment to say goodbye as the tide comes in and washes the portraits away.

Piper Louise Marshall plays Battle's O'er at the Forth Bridge in Scotland (PA)

Up to 10,000 veterans, serving personnel and members of the public marked the 100th anniversary of the Armistice at the National Memorial Arboretum.

As the final notes of The Last Post drifted away, the only noise that could be heard above the silence was the wind in the trees.

Soldiers' faces were drawn in sand at beaches across the UK (Getty Images)

The arboretum and its centrepiece white Portland stone Armed Forces Memorial, at Alrewas, Staffordshire, provided a backdrop for a service of sombre reflection on a poignant Remembrance Sunday.

One of the biggest acts of Remembrance in Northern Ireland took place at the cenotaph at Belfast City Hall.

The Centenary Field of Thanks at the National Memorial Arboretum, Alrewas (PA)

It was attended by Northern Ireland Secretary Karen Bradley and Ireland's deputy premier Simon Coveney.