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Green MP Caroline Lucas, whose party supported remaining in the EU, is hoping the UK's exit is "not as hard and as abrupt" as she fears it will be.

“There’s been very nice words about trying to bring the country back together but if the prime minister was serious about that then he would not, for example, be absolutely ruling out the possibility of… an extension to the transition," she tells the BBC.

“The idea that 11 months is going to be enough to get the kind of comprehensive trade deal that we’re going to need, I think, is a fantasy."

Car manufacturer Nissan has released a statement saying it is among the companies "still waiting for clarity" on what the future UK-EU trading relationship will look like.

"We want our UK team of more than 7,000 people to have the best possible chance of future success, which is why we continue to urge UK and EU negotiators to work collaboratively towards an orderly balanced Brexit that will continue to encourage mutually beneficial trade," the company says.

It comes after the UK's biggest manufacturing lobby groups also called for more clarity over the future trading relationship.

Image source, PA

Plymouth's Conservative MPJohnny Mercer and his Labour counterpart Luke Pollard, have, in the past, exchanged angry words over Twitter.

But today some kind of harmony seems to be breaking out.

Mr Mercer tweets the hope that "the cantankerous nature of Plymouth politics can now come to an end, and be conducted in a more united and gracious spirit in an important year for our great city".

Responding to his message, Mr Pollard says: "Glad to see you’re now keen on cross-party working. My door is always open to working together and I look forward to the long overdue cup of tea together. Let’s get it in the diary soon :-) #lifeisbetterwithtea"

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Brexiteer Mark Francois is one of those who will be celebrating tonight.

The Conservative MP says he won't be going to sleep tonight so he can "stay up and watch the sun rise over a free country".

He tells the BBC he's optimistic about the future and it's "time for people to put the divisions behind them".

Mr Francois says he is confident the prime minister can secure a trade deal with the EU within a year because it's "in the interest of both sides to come to an agreement".

World Business Report

Image source, Getty Images

Brexit campaigner and Wetherspoon pub chain founder Tim Martin has hit out at Bank of England economic growth projections for the UK after Brexit.

The bank said on Thursday that Brexit-related uncertainty had "weighed on investment" over the past few years - although outgoing Bank of England Governor Mark Carney said fewer companies in the UK are worried about Brexit, and that survey data suggested UK growth will improve.

But policymakers now believe the UK's potential growth has been reduced to 1.1%. This is down from 2.9% before the financial crisis and 1.6% over most of the past decade.

Mr Martin, who has never been shy of giving his opinion on Brexit, said that the Bank “talks absolute cobblers”.

“I just wish they would shut up," he said.

"They have been so wrong on everything they’ve said. For example, they and others said just by voting Leave, would by today have lost half a million jobs.

"Since 2016, we’ve created a million, so they were wrong by a ginormous amount, and government revenues from tax is at a record high, household income’s at a record high, employment’s at a record high. What do we have to do?”

German Chancellor Angela Merkel expresses regret about Brexit in a podcast (in German)., external

She calls it "a deep gash for all of us - the EU and Germany".

"Germany wants to remain a close partner and friend of Britain, because we are united by common values," she says.

She says the EU's negotiations with the UK on a future relationship "will certainly not be easy".

Image source, Steffen Seibert

Brits are still buying properties in the rural Dordogne region, as Lucy Williamson reports from Eymet.

Despite the continued uncertainties surrounding Brexit, Eymet has been experiencing something of a Brexit boost.

Brits make up 17% of the population - and long-term British resident and estate agent Terrie Simpson reports a surge of interest as Brits race to find a home in the EU before Britain leaves.

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Paul Griffiths - chief executive of Northamptonshire Chamber of Commerce tells BBC News that "businesses thrive on confidence".

"That confidence comes from knowing how to plan the future," he says.

"There are lot of questions to be answered over the Brexit process.

"We leave Europe at 11 tonight but then we go to the transition process and that is when we'll get the real detail.

"The difficulty is - what are they [businesses] preparing for?

"There is a lot of official advice to deal with a no-deal Brexit but when we get past December this year - there is little or nothing out there because it still has to be negotiated."

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"We feel immense sadness," says SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford, who argues that Scotland is "being taken out of the EU against our will".

"The UK we voted to stay in in 2015 no longer exists," he says, referring to the Scottish independence referendum.

"For us now it is about finding a way back into Europe."

The SNP wants a second referendum on independence but this morning the party leader, and first minister of Scotland, urged her party to patiently build the case for independence.

Image source, Stratford 4 Europe

Meanwhile in Stratford-Upon-Avon members of Stratford 4 Europe - a cross-party grass roots community group that campaigned for a referendum on the final Brexit deal - have gathered "to show the world the prime minister by no means represents everyone’s view", they say.

Advice from a dog grooming centre in southern Spain:

The BBC's Gavin Lee tweets...

Welsh Labour leader and First Minister Mark Drakeford says Wales will leave the EU “with our heads held high”.

In a speech in Cardiff, he says: "Wales remains a European nation. We are citizens of the world as well as of Wales and at 23:00 GMT today all of that will be not less but more important than ever."

Wales voted to leave the EU at the 2016 referendum by 52.5% to 47.5%.

However, most of its leading politicians campaigned to remain.

Read more from Wales.

Emma Harrison
BBC News online political reporter

Image source, PA Media/Getty Images

There's an interesting mix of demonstrators, tourists and TV reporters gathered in Parliament Square ahead of Brexit tonight.

There is a strong police presence, but the atmosphere is calm among the different groups.

As union flags flutter in the wind, a group erupts in a rendition of Auld Lang Syne - which was sung by MEPs as they left the European Parliament on Wednesday.

"Boris is my PM," says one sign.

"Our country again," says another. "Goodbye EU."

But a sign held by two Italians reads: "We will always love you."

Ivybridge in Devon held a big party when the UK joined the European Economic Community in 1973.

Unlike most of the rest of the South West, which voted heavily Leave in the Brexit referendum, the area voted narrowly to Remain in 2016.

How do Ivybridge's residents feel now we're leaving?