A kiss goodbye. The votes are in, and Brexit wins. Britain has voted to leave the European Union.
The historic decision will change Britain's place in the world, "rattle the Continent and rock political establishments throughout the West," reports the New York Times.
With 309 of 382 of the country's cities and towns reporting early on Friday, the Leave campaign held a 52 percent to 48 percent lead. The BBC called the race for the Leave campaign shortly before 4:45 a.m., with 13.1 million votes having been counted in favor of leaving and 12.2 million in favor of remaining.
The value of the British pound plummeted as financial markets absorbed the news.
"Dare to dream that the dawn is breaking on an independent United Kingdom," U.K. Independence Party leader Nigel Farage told cheering supporters just after 4 a.m. today London time.
The markets are plunging. Follow continuing #Brexit coverage at https://t.co/64SID8sGBA and watch our latest recap https://t.co/dPCd2IYZpC
— Bloomberg (@business) June 24, 2016
It's a "crushing" decision, it will be "catastrophic," @Keith4Leicester says https://t.co/K6pbNn362q #EUref #Brexit https://t.co/ANoOzEEqyK
— BBC Breaking News (@BBCBreaking) June 24, 2016
god save the queen pic.twitter.com/BUZN9OUwvI
— Ziwe (@Ziweeee) June 24, 2016
god save the pound #brexit pic.twitter.com/BjT56jFdSk
— Ziwe (@Ziweeee) June 24, 2016
"EUROPEAN RUIN": Some front pages from around the web following #Brexit vote pic.twitter.com/NUZ7gLNtCB
— Oliver Darcy (@oliverdarcy) June 24, 2016
It's not just about #Brexit, it's not just about the EU. It's a harbinger of what's to come. Right wing populist nationalism rising.
— Iyad El-Baghdadi (@iyad_elbaghdadi) June 24, 2016
#Japan market meltdown triggers Nikkei futures' circuit breaker. Futures trading halted for 10 minutes. #Brexit #VOAalert
— Steve Herman (@W7VOA) June 24, 2016
Feeling great about #brexit! ???????????? pic.twitter.com/94Cv4WmTWC
— Brianna Wu (@Spacekatgal) June 24, 2016
#Brexit forecast sends pound plunging as #EURefResults continue to arrive https://t.co/71imyP5wbl pic.twitter.com/6HCrAdLcFW
— Bloomberg (@business) June 24, 2016
Whoa, the age divide on #Brexit is stunning. via @WSJ https://t.co/M3BJkozO5t pic.twitter.com/RKZXRS79Bb
— Laura J. Nelson (@laura_nelson) June 24, 2016
Bunch of old racists destroyed their kids future. #Brexit https://t.co/lJotDitCi7
— BWD (@theonlyadult) June 24, 2016
24 juin 2016 #Brexit pic.twitter.com/55MD00Xpsd
— Pierre Duchesne (@duchp) June 24, 2016
Current feelings about #brexit results pic.twitter.com/1kSMb9U7PG
— Burp Macklin, FBI (@kisstheBRIDA) June 24, 2016
