The UK has ended its EU membership after 47 years, but the next phase of Brexit has only just begun.

Sarah Bishop
BBC News

Celebrations are in full swing at Sedgley Working Men's Club in Dudley where revellers are labelling the party as a "British independence celebration".

67.6% of people voted to leave the EU in Dudley in the 2016 referendum. However, former Brexit Party MEP for the area Bill Etheridge said there were no divisions over the vote.

"There's no rift," he said. "We're all Black Country people, we all get along with each other."

The Brexit Party leader says he believes the UK is setting an example to the rest of Europe in breaking free.

He wants the UK trade to with a Europe of sovereign, equal nations with the UK "never taking orders" from the EU again.

"This marks the moment of no return. Once we have left, we are never going back."

Brandishing a 50p coin, he suggests that unrepentant remainers now ressemble "flat-earthers", even Tony Blair has accepted the battle is over and UK will not rejoin the EU.

"The fact is that the war is over. We have won...Let us celebrate like never before."

Sarah Smith
Scotland Editor

Image source, Getty Images

Hundreds of demonstrators outside the Holyrood Parliament in Edinburgh are playing the EU anthem Ode to Joy on bagpipes and singing Proclaimers songs as they wait to mark the moment the UK leaves the EU.

As Scotland voted to Remain these people believe their votes have been ignored and they are being dragged out against their will.

Despite wind and rain they are hoping to light candles, here and across Scotland for what’s become known as the campaign to #leavealighton.

The SNP have asked the EU to leave a light on to await Scotland’s return. That can only happen if Scotland becomes an independent country.

Brexit has fuelled demands for another Scottish referendum. Yes campaigners are convinced that Brexit will cause the break up of the UK.

The warm-up acts have strutted their stuff and now it is time for the headliner.

Nigel Farage takes to the stage to the strains of Europe's The Final Countdown.

He says that "something remarkable" is about to happen and the political landscape is about to change forever.

He says he disagrees with those who say Brexiteers should tone down the celebrations, saying there is plenty to celebrate and "this is the single most important moment in the modern history of our great nation".

With Brexit, the UK will become a "democratic, self-governing, independent and, I hope, proud nation".

Charlotte Rose
BBC Essex

Revellers have been celebrating the UK’s divorce from the EU at the Corner Club in Canvey Island Essex.

The pub is in Castle Point where 37,691 voted to Leave, against 14,154 to Remain.

As well as displaying plenty of Union Flag hats, skirts and decorations punters have been entertained by band Grounds for Divorce.

Boris Johnson has written to Brexit Secretary Steve Barclay, whose job will become redundant once the UK has left the EU.

The PM says Mr Barclay can take "particular pride" in the role that he has played and praises him for "working tirelessly" to seize the opportunities that lie ahead.

Newspapers across Europe dedicated their front pages today to Brexit.

In Germany, leading publications bid "auf wiedersehen" and good luck to the UK.

Hungary's left-wing weekly Heti Vilaggazdasag asked: "Should we laugh or cry?"

In Romania, it was dubbed a "historic moment", while Norway's leading newspaper Afternposten described it as a "deeply regretful day for Europe".

Business Secretary Andrea Leadsom says she's definitely celebrating tonight as she arrives for a reception at Downing Street.

"But we're moving on at the same time," she adds.

"There is a bright future for the United Kingdom and we all need to come back together now."

Image source, Reuters

There are a lot of people praising Nigel Farage's contribution this evening and plenty of others toasting him.

The veteran Brexiteer is due on stage outside Parliament soon.

The former Apprentice winner Michelle Dewberry is currently on stage. After 23:00 GMT, she says all the divisions of the past will end and "we will all be leavers".

Image source, EPA

In a message of solidarity, Estonian Prime Minister Juri Ratas has said the EU member country will continue its "close friendship" with the UK after Brexit.

"Our friendship has continued already for more than 100 years. We are bound together by history, trust and longtime cooperation, as well as common responsibility for the security of Europe," he said.

"I believe that close friendship and cooperation between Estonia and the United Kingdom will deepen further in security, defence, cyber and digital cooperation, and in the fields of education and research."

David Pittam
BBC News Online

There are some colourful celebrations in Derby, a city where 57.2% of the population voted to leave.

James Vincent
Political Editor BBC Look North

Think of a song that could refer to Brexit...

"I Want to Break Free?" Yep.

"The Final Countdown?" Deffo.

They’re all on the playlist at tonight’s "Brexit Bash" at Morley Rugby Club in west Yorkshire.

Dresscode: Union Flag.

Not just a party but a performance from their Brexit-backing MP and classically trained singer Andrea Jenkyns.

She’s performing Jerusalem tonight just before the planned fireworks.

The UK is less than 45 minutes away from leaving the European Union.

That is the cue for another musical interlude at the Brexit rally outside Parliament. The strains of Rule Britannia are heard, accompanied by the jazz band on stage.

The flags are flying and, for a moment, this could be the Last Night of the Proms.

"The opportunities have not changed because of Brexit," says the European Commission president:

"We are opening a new chapter," says the European Council president:

"It will allow us to be united," thinks the European Parliament president:

"I am Sad to see our British friends leave," the European Central Bank president says:

Kate Whannel
BBC News in Parliament Square

Three students from the London School of Economics have also turned up at the Parliament Square rally - Adam from Durham, Emma from Utah and Kameron from Detroit.

None of them are in favour of Brexit.

"It is quite hard not to feel defeated," says Kameron.

Adam says he has been contemplating leaving the country but adds ”what’s the point?"

"It is happening and it will shape our future.”

Emma says most of the people on her course are opposed to Brexit. ”People who disagree with us felt theoretical. But it feels very tangible tonight.”

Boris Johnson concludes his short message by reflecting on the future for an "energetic Britain".

Our nation can, at the same time, be a “great European power” and “truly global range in our range and ambitions”.

He trumpets the UK’s “incredible assets” – its scientists, world-leading universities and armed forces.

“When I look at the potential of this country waiting to be unleashed, I know that we can turn this opportunity into a stunning success," he says.

Whatever "bumps in the road" may ahead lie ahead, the PM is confident that the UK will “succeed”.

“We have obeyed the people. We have taken back the tools of self-government. Now is the time to use those tools to unleash the full potential of this brilliant country and to make better the lives of everyone in every corner of our United Kingdom.”

Image source, AFP

Back to the prime minister's message, and Brexit is not simply a moment for the UK to “extract” itself from the EU’s legal order, he continues.

It is, he says, much bigger than that. It is an opportunity for "national renewal and change" and a chance to make the UK a fairer place.

“This is the dawn of a new era in which we no longer accept that your life chances, your family’s life chances, should depend on which part of the country you grow up in.”

He talks about the NHS, crime, education and infrastructure – all part of the government’s “levelling up” agenda.

“We will spread hope and opportunity to every part of the UK.

"And if we can get this right, I believe that with every month that goes by we will grow in confidence not just at home but abroad”.

The UK’s ability to exercise “independent thought and action” will also enrich its foreign policy, he adds, in areas such as human rights, the climate, education and free trade.

The UK will be “rediscovering muscles that we have not used for decades”.