The flags outside embassies have been lowered, the countdown clocks have stopped; Brexit is official. The United Kingdom is no longer a member of the European Union.
After 47 long years as a part of the European Union, UK membership officially ceased at the stroke of 23:00 GMT on Friday 31 January. The Brexit negotiations took more than three and a half years.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson marked the historic moment with his team at his Downing Street office, celebrating with English sparkling wine and an array of British culinary treats.
Brussels paid tribute to the UK on the eve of Brexit by throwing a massive British themed party. The Belgian capital’s mayor Philippe Close arranged for the city’s Grand-Place to be lit up in the Union Jack colours red, white and blue.
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As the clock ticked down the final seconds, thousands of Brexiters celebrated outside Parliament and groups burned EU flags on the streets of London. Anti-Brexit campaigners mounted several protests along the Irish border.
Under the terms of the withdrawal agreement between the UK and the EU, Britain now enters a transition period until the end of 2020, meaning London will abide by most EU laws while their future relationship is hashed out.
Johnson must now achieve a trade deal with the EU – the world’s largest trading bloc – within 11 months, a task most experts have described as ambitious at best, but his wider mission over the next five years will be to find a way to repair the country’s divisions.
The years since the referendum have seen ugly scenes at protests and clashes between pro- and anti-Europe demonstrators, as well as bitter rhetoric dominating newspapers and appearing in Parliament, and fears of a return of Northern Irish paramilitary violence.
