London, June 24 (QNA) - The UK has voted by 52% to 48% to leave the European Union after 43 years in an historic referendum, the BBC reported.
London and Scotland voted strongly to stay in the EU but the remain vote has been undermined by poor results in the north of England.
The referendum turnout was 71.8% - with more than 30 million people voting - the highest turnout at a UK election since 1992. Wales and the majority of England outside London voted in large numbers for Brexit.
Labour former Europe Minister Keith Vaz told the BBC the British people had voted with their "emotions" and rejected the advice of experts who had warned about the economic impact of leaving the EU.
He said the EU should call an emergency summit to deal with the aftermath of the vote, which he described as "catastrophic for our country, for the rest of Europe and for the rest of the world".
Germany's foreign minister Frank Walter Steinmeier describes the referendum result as as "a sad day for Europe and Great Britain".
Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has said that the EU vote "makes clear that the people of Scotland see their future as part of the European Union" after all 32 local authority areas returned majorities for Remain.
London has voted to stay in the EU by around 60% to 40%. However, no other region of England has voted in favour of remaining.
Throughout the Midlands and the North of England the level of support for Remain was well below what was required for it to win at least 50% of the vote across the UK as a whole.
The pound fell to its lowest level against the dollar since 1985 as the markets reacted to the results.
Britain would be the first country to leave the EU since its formation - but a leave vote will not immediately mean Britain ceases to be a member of the 28-nation bloc.
That process could take a minimum of two years, with Leave campaigners suggesting during the referendum campaign that it should not be completed until 2020 - the date of the next scheduled general election. (QNA)