UK leaves EU today

The UK will leave the European Union at 11pm today.

Boris Johnson is planning to hail the dawn of a new era in an address to the nation, one hour before Brexit.

Also today, the prime minister will hold a cabinet meeting in Sunderland, the first city to back Brexit in the June 2016 EU referendum, where more than 60% voted leave.

Official government celebrations include Downing Street being lit up with a light show, union flags flying in parliament square, and three million Brexit themed 50p coins entering circulation.

It is 47 years since the UK joined the European Economic Community and tonight, those bonds will be broken.