Brexit in pictures: The UK leaves the EU

Pro and anti-Brexit demonstrations and marches have been held across the country, as the UK counted down to leaving the European Union.

The UK officially left the EU at 23:00 GMT, ending 47 years of membership.

News imageAFP Downing Street at exactly 23:00 GMT on Friday 31 JanuaryAFP
A projection on to No 10 Downing Street marks the moment the UK left the European Union
News imageAFP Brexit supporters wave Union flags as the time passes 11 O"Clock at a Brexit Celebration party at Woolston Social Club in Warrington, north west EnglandAFP
People cheer Britain's exit from the EU as the clock chimes 23:00 GMT in Warrington
News imageDominic Lipinski/PA Wire Pro-EU supporters light candles in Smith Square in Westminster, London, ahead of the UK leaving the European Union at 11pm on Friday.Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire
Pro-EU supporters light candles in Smith Square, Westminster
News imageAFP Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage looks delighted as Britain leaves the EUAFP
Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage celebrates Britain's departure from the EU in Parliament Square
News imageGetty Images Pro-Brexit supports celebrate at WestminsterGetty Images
A pro-Brexit supporter climbs the plinth of Winston Churchill's statue on Parliament Square
News imageGetty Images The UK flag is removed from the European Council building in Brussels.Getty Images
In Brussels, the UK flag is removed from the European Council building
News imagePA Wire The Foreign and Commonwealth Office is also lit up in red, white and blue.PA Wire
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office in central London is lit up in the colours of the union flag
News imageGetty Images The UK flag is taken down and folded up outside the European Parliament building in Brussels.Getty Images
The flag is taken down and folded up outside the European Parliament building in Brussels
News imageHenry Nicholls / REUTERS/ People celebrate Britain leaving the EU on Brexit day in London.Henry Nicholls / REUTERS/
Brexiteers head towards Parliament Square in London
News imageDominic Lipinski / PA Media Brexiteers in Parliament Square, London, ahead of the UK leaving the European Union at 11pm on Friday.Dominic Lipinski / PA Media
Crowds gather early on Friday in Parliament Square ahead of the Brexit celebrations
News imageDANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS/AFP via Getty Images Pro-Brexit supporters don Union Jack-themed clothes pose for a photograph in Parliament Square, the venue for the Leave Means Leave Brexit Celebration.DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS/AFP via Getty Images
Pro-Brexit supporters wearing union flag-themed clothes pose for a photograph
News imageJeff J Mitchell/Getty Images Pro-EU activists protest at Parliament Square as people prepare for Brexit on 31 January 2020 in London, United Kingdom.Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images
Supporters of the EU hold a procession through Whitehall to "bid a fond farewell" to the union
News imageISABEL INFANTES / AFP A pro-EU activist wearing a cape decorated with an EU flag design joins a rally organised by civil rights group New Europeans outside Europe House, central London on 31 January ,2020ISABEL INFANTES / AFP
A pro-EU activist wearing a cape decorated with an EU flag design joins a rally organised by civil rights group New Europeans outside Europe House, central London
News imageBen STANSALL / AFP A pro-EU message is projected onto the cliffs in Ramsgate, southern EnglandBen STANSALL / AFP
A pro-EU message is projected onto the cliffs in Ramsgate, Kent.
News imagePA Wire St Andrew's House, a Scottish Government building in Edinburgh, is illuminated in the colours of the European flag.PA Wire
St Andrew's House, a Scottish Government building, in Edinburgh, is illuminated in the colours of the European flag
News imageDanny Lawson / pa Customers Scott Jones and Laura Jones at the Sawmill Bar in South Elmsall, Yorkshire, where a Brexit party is being held throughout the day ahead of the UK leaving the European Union at 11pm this evening.Danny Lawson / pa
Customers Scott Jones and Laura Jones at the Sawmill Bar in South Elmsall, Yorkshire
News imagePAUL ELLIS / AFP Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson (C) chairs a cabinet meeting at the National Glass Centre at the University of Sunderland, in Sunderland, northeast England on 31 January 2020.PAUL ELLIS / AFP
The prime minister holds a cabinet meeting at the National Glass Centre, a museum and arts centre in Sunderland, the city that was the first to back Brexit when results were announced after the 2016 referendum

All photos subject to copyright.