Francesca Williams
BBC News

Live updates have now finished on the historic day on which we learned the result of a far-reaching decision made by British voters to leave the EU.

We'll be back at 08:00 on Monday with news for the North East, as well as travel reports and the weather forecast. 

In the meantime, if you've got any updates or pictures you'd like to share with us feel free to get in touch via Facebook, external, Twitter, external or email northeast.locallive@bbc.co.uk.    

Stockton South Conservative MP and Northern Powerhouse minister James Wharton - who campaigned to exit the EU  - said the decision to leave was the "will of the British people and absolutely must now be respected".

"We've had a very heated referendum debate that seemed to go on for ever, it certainly had passions running high," he said.

"We've been given a message by the British people, we've now got to do it.

Image source, PA

"We've got to get the right deal from Europe in terms of our trade but we've got to start that process of leaving the European Union and taking back control of our own future."  

How the EU has divided parties and felled leaders

Francesca Williams
BBC News

...and to vote go.

After yesterday's precautionary run on Euros at bureaux de change and travel agents around the country, are travellers feeling any differently now the vote is in?

Voters from both sides - about to jet off from Newcastle Airport - put the result down to the issue of immigration.

"I'm disappointed for my grandchildren - it won't affect me," one woman said.

Another believed "the free movement of people into the country - I don't think it works".

The director of car parts manufacturer Nifco in Stockton says there is a lot of work ahead if the UK wants to compete in a global market.

Mike Matthews says "shipping products and services all over the world is very expensive".

"Shipping to Europe is much more competitive - puts us on a much more even footing with a lot of other manufacturers," he says.

"So we're going to have to work hard in improving the UK's competitiveness if we're going to succeed on a global platform."

The Bishop of Newcastle, the Right Reverend Christine Hardman, has called for people in the region to unite after the Brexit vote.

“The sharpness of the debate and the divisions it has highlighted pose a challenge for us as we move forward into the future," she said.

Image source, Diocese of Newcastle

“As someone who is inspired by Christian hope, I believe that the task is now for us to unite, to build a generous, outward-looking, and welcoming country." 

Leaving the European Union is likely to have profound consequences for every household in the UK. Here's how your personal finances could be affected.

Image source, Thinkstock

People across north-east England voted to leave the European Union because they felt "let down" by the government, a Labour MP has said.

Julie Elliott, MP for Sunderland Central, said she believed people took "cuts to local councils, to the health service, insecurity in work" out on the EU and gave it a "kicking".

But Leave Sunderland organiser Richard Elvin called the result "fantastic".

Image source, Ian Forsyth/Getty Images

Newcastle was the only area to vote Remain. The other 11 voted Leave.

See local results here

Follow the latest news on the BBC's live EU referendum page

UKIP's Mr Elvin said: "It's an absolutely fantastic result. Who could have predicted 61.5% against 38.5%?

BBC Sport

Sunderland AFC and Middlesbrough FC may find it more difficult to buy their footballing targets after the UK's decision to leave the European Union, an expert has warned.

Transfer fees and wages may rise, said Simon Chadwick, professor of sports enterprise at Salford University.

"Clubs could suddenly find players are much more expensive because the pound is worth less," he said.

Football Association chairman Greg Dyke said the decision could have "quite an impact on English football".

Players' wages, the staging of big events, the Premier League brand and the Bosman Ruling on transfers could all be affected, according to Chadwick.  

A butcher is selling meat in pounds and ounces following the vote to leave the EU.

Darren Gratton, from Gratton's in Devon, claimed some customers had asked if they could order their meat in imperial units.

The shop's scales measured in kilograms, he said, but he could still work "with both" systems.

It brings back memories of the Sunderland greengrocer hailed the Metric Martyr after being prosecuted for selling fruit and vegetables by the pound.

Steve Thoburn was convicted for selling goods only in imperial measures in 2001.

The group's appeals against conviction were rejected all the way up to the House of Lords and this February, by the European Court of Human Rights.

He died in 2004.

A guide to the UK's decision to leave the European Union following an historic referendum.

Image source, Getty Images

Francesca Williams
BBC News

There's been a lot of talk about how the UK gets out of the EU.

Somehow it feels like it should have a more momentous-sounding name, not just Article 50, external.

This section of the 2009 Lisbon Treaty covers the process of leaving the union.

This is how it's done:

1. The UK officially tells the European Council it intends to leave.
2. There are negotiations between the EU and the UK to decide how this happens and what the UK will get/give in the future. This will include discussions about the trade tariffs we've heard so much about.
3. Negotiations are meant to be completed within two years of (1) but the European Parliament has a veto over any new agreement formalising the relationship between the UK and the EU.
4. It is possible some of the main issues - including when anything happens - could be dealt with in informal discussions with other EU members and the European Commission before the official process is invoked.
5. Vote Leave says Britain could instead, technically, simply write the EU out of its laws, although that wouldn't help future negotiations.
6. All other members states have to agree unanimously if the UK wants to come back into the EU.

In a statement the president and chief executive of Hitachi, Toshiaki Higashihara, said: "We will take our time to carefully assess the implications for our business as these become clearer."

The Japanese conglomerate opened a £82m train factory in Newton Aycliffe in September, its first factory in Europe. 

In an exclusive interview with the BBC in April, Toshiaki Higashihara said he opposed Brexit.  

Francesca Williams
BBC News

If you thought the referendum campaign seemed to go on for a long time, it's nothing compared to another set of bitter rivalries.

After Newcastle voted to remain and Sunderland voted to leave it was only a matter of time before someone started making football analogies.

A parody account purporting to be written by Sunderland AFC striker Jermain Defoe (just to be clear for the lawyers - it isn't him) tweets: "The people of #Newcastle thought voting to remain was to stay in the premier league."

We're not sure the Remain camp - or Newcastle fans - will be amused.

The UK has voted to leave the EU - a process that has come to be known as Brexit. 

Here is what is likely to happen next.

Image source, PA

Middlesbrough has voted to leave the EU - and many in the town are very pleased with the result.

For others, the future is still a little unnerving.

Universities have pledged to pressure ministers to ensure European staff and students can still work and study in the UK after the vote to leave the EU.

Vice-chancellors from the Universities UK umbrella group say the decision to leave will create "significant challenges" for higher education.

They are already in talks with EU commissioners, it is understood.

The Russell Group of top research universities says it will work with ministers to safeguard research funds.

It represents Durham University, Newcastle University, the University of Glasgow and 21 other universities.

Image source, Phil Coombes

Francesca Williams
BBC News

If this referendum has proved anything it is that the same set of facts can be taken as evidence for two entirely contradictory opinions.

Lumberjilly, tweeting from Northumberland, external, believes Redcar voted to leave the EU because there was "no state aid for SSI owing to EU rules".

However other tweeters point out people have "sadly forgotten this area was improved by EU money".

On Tuesday The Gazette explored whether Teesside would be better in or out, external - and there were numbers to back up both.

Bishop Auckland Labour MP Helen Goodman is to support a motion of no confidence in party leader Jeremy Corbyn, journalist Michael Crick says., external

Margaret Hodge and Ann Coffey confirmed they have sent a letter to the chairman of the Parliamentary Labour Party calling for the motion.

It has no formal constitutional force but calls for a discussion at their next PLP meeting on Monday.

It will be up to the PLP chairman to decide whether it is debated. If accepted it would be followed by a secret ballot of Labour MPs on Tuesday.

Image source, Labour Party