Live: Britain holds its breath for verdict after EU referendum vote

A total of 32,064 voted for the UK to stay in the EU with 8,905 backing Brexit.

The North is treated as one electoral area in the overall UK result, but the count is being broken down across its 18 constituencies, with those separate outcomes added together for the regional result.

The Northern Ireland result is expected around 4am.

Update 1.20am: The first council in Scotland to declare in the European referendum produced a strong victory for the Remain camp.

The island authority of Orkney was the first of the country's 32 local authorities to declare, with the results showing almost two thirds of the votes had gone to Remain.

A total of 63.2% of voters backed keeping the UK in the European Union, with 36.8% voting for Brexit.

Polls in Scotland have consistently shown a majority for staying in Europe, but across the UK the picture has been less clear.

Newcastle was the first area to declare in England, with the results there showing a much narrower majority for Remain.

Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale said there were a "lot of very happy, very confident Remain activists" in Scotland.

Speaking in Glasgow she said: "I spent most of the day campaigning myself in Edinburgh. The bookies have said that Edinburgh might be the one place across the whole UK that's going to have the biggest Remain vote.

"That was certainly my experience today. A lot of enthusiasm, a lot of cheers, a lot of thumbs up as we were campaigning across the city. It was very encouraging."

High turnout in #Scotland, though not as high as 2014 independence referendum. #Brexit https://t.co/tvZtTDmlk7 pic.twitter.com/UXSLhfPCnT

— Peter Spiegel (@SpiegelPeter) June 23, 2016

After a "very aggressive campaign" she said that "a lot of people would like politics to cool down a bit now, to be a bit more nuanced, for everyone to be a bit kinder to each other and a bit more considerate about all the big issues that we have to face in the world".

But she said the issue of immigration - one of the key issues in the campaign - would not go away after the referendum vote.

Ms Dugdale stated: "A big part of this campaign has been dominated by immigration and whenever the issue of immigration has come up there has been a sense of the polls tightening, that that's an issue that people have very strong views on. There are no easy answers to that. There certainly weren't any answers on the ballot paper today.

"I'm very proudly pro-EU, very proudly pro-immigration. There's a fantastic value to that in our country but obviously some people have deep concerns about the impact that has on their communities.

"It's now the job of politicians to recognise that and act on that and that's where the conversation has got to go now."

Update 12.45am: Delighted Leave supporters drowned out the regional counting officer in Sunderland as she announced their big win in the city.

They hugged and cheered as Sue Stanhope made the announcement at the tennis centre in Silksworth, where the count had been conducted with the usual efficiency.

From the 134,400 votes cast, Leave received 82,394 and Remain polled 51,930.

A Remain-supporting Labour source had conceded defeat half an hour before, saying they expected Leave to win by a "comfortable margin".

Retweeted Sky News (@SkyNews):

Economics editor @EdConwaySky says the pound has "gone through the floor"... https://t.co/dphP73COKs

— Matthew Reeve (@ruskinite) June 23, 2016

Whether the source predicted that comfortable margin would stretch to the eventual majority of more than 30,000 was debatable.

But there was better news for Remain in Newcastle, where they narrowly won.

Sunderland prides itself on running a slick operation to count votes, and its three constituencies were the first to declare at the last general election.

The city uses students to run the ballot boxes to the tables of counters, many of whom are bank tellers used to quickly handling cash.

Update 11.30pm: Nigel Farage said a loss for the Leave campaign will be down to millions of extra voters who were allowed to register late.

The Ukip leader and leading Leave campaigner said the Government's 48-hour extension to the registration deadline because of technical difficulties "may be what tipped the balance".

He also suggested that MP Jo Cox's death "might be part of it".

With a massive turnout I'd like to thank everybody who has engaged in the greatest democratic exercise in my lifetime. #EUref

— Nigel Farage (@Nigel_Farage) June 24, 2016

After the polls closed, Mr Farage said analysis carried out by "some of my friends in the financial markets" showed Britain has voted to stay in the EU.

Speaking as the first results came through, Mr Farage told reporters: "Win or lose this battle tonight, we will win this war. We will get our country back, we will get our independence back and we will get our borders back."

Attacking the Government for allowing millions of extra voters to join the polls, he said: "I hope and pray that my sense of this tonight was wrong and my sense of this, and no, I'm not conceding, but my sense of this, is that the Government's registration scheme, getting two million voters on, the 48 hour extension, may be what tipped the balance.

"I hope I'm wrong. I hope I'm made a fool of, believing that to be the case."

Asked by Sky News what happened to his campaign, which had edged ahead in the polls in past weeks, he said: "There was a very major event, a very major tragic event and that might be part of it. But actually to say we were running away with it is not right."

Pushed on whether MP Jo Cox's death has cost him his vote, he said: "No, I'm not saying that."

However, Ukip's only MP Douglas Carswell criticised his leader for blaming the registration extension.

Nigel Farage of Leave: "Whoever wins this battle... we are winning this war"https://t.co/slOCKdj5NP #EURef https://t.co/U6gK9XE7IP

— BBC News (UK) (@BBCNews) June 23, 2016

He told the BBC: "I think it is very important to show respect for democracy which has just been through a very prolonged debate.

"I think we can legitimately complain about taxpayer-funded propaganda, about the Treasury pumping out a forecasts fiction.

"But when it comes to getting people engaged in a referendum, surely that's a good thing.

"We've waited 40 years for this moment. Getting more people to engage in the process is a good thing. There are lots of things we can complain about but I don't think that should be one of them."

Mr Farage said the the "eurosceptic genie is out of the bottle and it will now not be put back", affecting the mood across Europe.

He said: "If we do stay part of this Union, it is doomed, it is finished anyway.

"If we fail tonight it will not be us that knocks out the first brick from the wall but somebody else."

Update 10pm: Polling stations are now closed, however any voters who have been in the queue since 10pm may still cast their vote.

Update 7.55pm: There are just two hours left until the polls close on voting in the UK's referendum on EU membership.

Most polls suggest Britain will stay in the EU.

UK Prime Minister David Cameron is to give a statement at 7am outside number 10 Downing Street, an hour before the London Stock exchange opens, according to British government sources.

There is a record number of people registered to vote however public transport stoppages and flooding could get in their way.

Earlier: Remain hold a narrow lead in the final poll of the knife-edge EU referendum campaign.

The In camp are ahead of Leave by 52% to 48%, according to an Ipsos Mori survey for the Evening Standard.

To add further uncertainty to the outcome, 12% of those polled said they could switch sides as they head for the polling booth.

With turnout key to the result, torrential rain storms in Remain stronghold London meant the unseasonally bad weather could deter voters casting their ballots.

Ukip leader Nigel Farage insisted his side could pull off an historic victory if "soft" In voters stayed home.

"Actually I do think we are in with a very strong chance, I do genuinely. But it's all about turnout and those soft Remainers staying at home. I do think that the people who have decided to vote Leave have a real conviction and passion," Mr Farage said.

However, early indications showed long queues snaking outside voting centres as the nation braved the storms to decide Britain's future role in Europe.

But some polling stations were forced to close, and many others are flooded due to the heavy rain sweeping the capital.

Kingston upon Thames Council in south west London moved two polling stations after they became inundated with water.

Prime Minister David Cameron ignored questions about the weather, saying only "Good morning" to the gathered media from across the world, as he and wife Samantha cast their votes at Methodist Hall in Westminster.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn arrived in a positive mood to cast his vote in his Islington constituency in north London.

Asked if he was feeing confident, Mr Corbyn smiled and said: "Extremely, it's a very good day."

It's time to get our borders back, our democracy back and our country back. #Brexithttps://t.co/eArDsfxlO3

— Nigel Farage (@Nigel_Farage) June 22, 2016

On the outcome of the referendum, he joked: "You could either check the wind or check the bookies," adding "the bookies usually get it right".

Pro-Leave Justice Secretary Michael Gove said he was feeling "quite excited" as he accompanied his wife, Sarah Vine, to a polling station in North Kensington.

The referendum has seen one of the longest, and most personally bitter, campaigns in recent British political memory.

Both sides of the campaign have been locked in fierce fighting for months, and things came to a frenetic close on Wednesday as senior politicians criss-crossed across the country to try to sway undecided voters.

The Prime Minister and his Remain colleagues from across the political spectrum have warned of the potentially severe economic consequences of a Brexit vote amid fears of financial market turmoil and another recession.

But Leave campaigners, led by Tory heavyweight Boris Johnson, have urged voters to "take back control" of the country.

Index shifts, Brexit vote could make Friday freaky on Wall Street https://t.co/FPegQh233F pic.twitter.com/7LY9uYegW9

— Reuters (@Reuters) June 23, 2016

Mr Farage would not elaborate on his reasons for missing Wednesday night's final Channel 4 debate of the campaign, saying only that it was "for family reasons".

He came in for particularly stern criticism after unveiling a Brexit poster showing a queue of hundreds of immigrants arriving in Europe with the slogan "breaking point".

And Leave campaigners were left furious after Chancellor George Osborne made use of Treasury research to warn that quitting the EU would result in households being £4,300 a year worse off.

Meanwhile, dozens of celebrities have intervened during the course of the campaign to make their feelings known.

Footballer David Beckham, James Bond actor Daniel Craig and Harry Potter author JK Rowling were just three of the high-profile names to back the Remain campaign, while Leave won support from the likes of comedian John Cleese, former cricketer Sir Ian Botham and former England football player Sol Campbell.

A record number of voters are eligible to take part in the referendum, with the Electoral Commission putting the number at 46,499,537.

Polling stations will close at 10pm.

Fieldwork for Ipsos Mori's survey of 1,592 people was carried out until 9pm on Wednesday night.

Vote Leave chief executive Matthew Elliott pleaded for Brexit supporters to vote - warning that turnout was high in Scotland and London, areas expected to back Remain.

In an email message he said: "There is a very real chance that voters in London and Scotland will vote to keep us in the EU today despite the heartlands of the country voting to leave."

The message included a photo of a queue outside a polling station in a "leafy London suburb".

Mr Elliott added: "If you don't want people in London to force you and your family to stay in the EU please email and call all your friends and make sure they vote Leave today."

Asked if he was feeling confident ahead of the result as he waited to board a flight to London at Edinburgh Airport, Mr Johnson said: "I think the polls have been very close.

"From what I have heard and all the information is that turnout is good in areas where we need it to be."

Asked if poor weather could affect turnout in key parts of the country, he added: "l don't think that will make any difference in the long run.

"It's a long time to go until the polls close."

Getting caught up on #Brexit? Here are the key players https://t.co/7d8ZAp0TQv pic.twitter.com/cy0aiLeZjQ

— Bloomberg (@business) June 23, 2016