Fans around the world are paying tribute to the former One Direction star

Fans in the UK and around the world are holding vigils this weekend in memory of Liam Payne, the One Direction star who died on Wednesday.

A memorial service has already been held in his hometown of Wolverhampton and in Liverpool. Further meetings are planned for Sunday in London, Manchester and Birmingham, among others.

Fan groups have also come together in Sydney, Manila and elsewhere.

Payne, who was 31, died after falling from the third floor Hotel balcony in Argentina.

It is not yet known when his body will be returned to Britain.

Details of the various commemorations circulated on social media, with fans encouraged to bring letters, flowers and messages.

In Liverpool on Saturday, a group of Directioners, as the supporters of the boy band founded by the X Factor call themselves, gathered at the Keel Warf Bridge at the Royal Albert Dock.

Some had cardboard signs with the band's lyrics, including one that read “I'm missing half of me when we're apart” from the band's single If I Could Fly.

Another commemorative card read “Forever Young,” a reference to the Alphaville track of the same name that One Direction covered.

Photos of Payne, flowers, teddy bears and balloons were left at the bridge and the group sang One Direction songs.

Earlier this weekend people gathered in Wolverhampton, where the singer was born in 1993.

Around 100 people looked down with their heads bowed as flowers were laid in front of St. Peter's Church.

A fan also left a photo of Payne as a child surrounded by candles.

People around the world also paid their respects.

In Buenos Aires, people gathered outside the hotel where Payne was found dead.

And in Sydney, fans also gathered, and a woman named Amber told Reuters about her sense of loss.

A vigil will take place in London's Hyde Park on Sunday afternoon.

Organizer Alicia Sinclair, 22, from Hertfordshire, said One Direction was “a light in many people’s lives, especially mine”.

Speaking to BBC 5 Live Breakfast, she added: “A lot of people are upset and it's a good time for us to come together and be with people who understand.”

“My fondest memories with my sister are almost entirely about One Direction,” she said.

“For me it feels like we grew up together. That’s what makes it so difficult.”

Another, Christina, said news of his death “really hit.”

“I think Liam just made a massive impression on his fans. Personally, I have been a fan for over 12 years,” she said.

Payne gained worldwide fame as part of the boy band One Direction, which was formed in 2010 on the TV show The X Factor, singing alongside his bandmates Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, Zayn Malik and Niall Horan.

Malik left the group in 2015 to pursue a solo career as a singer and the band later split up in 2016.

On Saturday, Malik announced He had postponed the US leg of his upcoming tour following the “heartbreaking loss” of his former bandmate.

His family also paid tribute to him. His sister Ruth Gibbins described Payne as her “best friend” in an interview. emotional Instagram postShe added that she felt like “this world wasn't good enough or kind enough” to him.

In Argentina, Payne's father, Geoff Payne, watched the tributes to his son in front of the Hotel Casa Sur in Buenos Aires on Friday.

He also visited the mortuary in the city to formally identify his son. A federal prosecutor previously told the BBC that his body had been “released”, meaning no further tests would be carried out and identification could take place.