Munich’s main rail station and another station in the west of the city were closed on New Year’s Eve over a “serious, imminent threat” of a suicide attack linked to the Islamist State (IS) extremist group, police said. “Please avoid crowds”, it said.

“There is nobody in the main station at the moment, but the atmosphere in Munich is like a normal New Year”.

“No one has seen or heard these suspected terrorists but the French don’t just dream these things up”, he said, referring to a tip that came from French foreign intelligence. But the enemy proved to be elusive. The Associated Press spoke with Munich police spokesman Werner Klaus who said they took into account where they got the information and decided it must be acted upon.

The Met confirmed police holidays were cancelled for the New Year’s Eve celebrations meaning all available staff were called upon. In Paris, the traditional fireworks display was called off, but thousands of people partied on the Champs Elysees in the biggest public gathering since the November attacks. Interior minister Thomas de Maizière described the security situation in Germany and Europe as “serious”.

Turkish police on Wednesday detained two suspected Islamic State 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.

Everywhere there were signs of heightened caution.

Security was stepped up in other major European cities too, including Moscow, London and Berlin. Police are now searching for between five and eight people, some of them Syrian and Iraqi.

Police reinforcements were deployed to Munich from other parts of Bavaria.

“We received names”, said Hubertus Andrä, Munich’s chief of police. “We’re working hard right now to try to establish the whereabouts of these people named and whether they are in Germany or Europe”.

“We all know there is a danger of attacks in all of Europe and also in Germany and here in Bavaria”. He said they had received personal data for some of the attackers and were still in the process of investigating and verifying the information.

A few days after the Paris attack, a soccer stadium in Hannover in central Germany was evacuated after a threat against a friendly match between Germany and the Netherlands.

Although an investigation was opened, no explosives were found nor arrests made.