Brexit in pictures: The UK leaves the EU

Pro and anti-Brexit demonstrations and marches have been held across the country, as the UK counted down to leaving the European Union.

The UK officially left the EU at 23:00 GMT, ending 47 years of membership.

A projection on to No 10 Downing Street marks the moment the UK left the European Union

People cheer Britain's exit from the EU as the clock chimes 23:00 GMT in Warrington

Pro-EU supporters light candles in Smith Square, Westminster

Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage celebrates Britain's departure from the EU in Parliament Square

A pro-Brexit supporter climbs the plinth of Winston Churchill's statue on Parliament Square

In Brussels, the UK flag is removed from the European Council building

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office in central London is lit up in the colours of the union flag

The flag is taken down and folded up outside the European Parliament building in Brussels

Brexiteers head towards Parliament Square in London

Crowds gather early on Friday in Parliament Square ahead of the Brexit celebrations

Pro-Brexit supporters wearing union flag-themed clothes pose for a photograph

Supporters of the EU hold a procession through Whitehall to "bid a fond farewell" to the union

A pro-EU activist wearing a cape decorated with an EU flag design joins a rally organised by civil rights group New Europeans outside Europe House, central London

A pro-EU message is projected onto the cliffs in Ramsgate, Kent.

St Andrew's House, a Scottish Government building, in Edinburgh, is illuminated in the colours of the European flag

Customers Scott Jones and Laura Jones at the Sawmill Bar in South Elmsall, Yorkshire

The prime minister holds a cabinet meeting at the National Glass Centre, a museum and arts centre in Sunderland, the city that was the first to back Brexit when results were announced after the 2016 referendum

All photos subject to copyright.