First results from Britain's historic EU referendum suggest an extremely tight race, with swathes of northern England backing "Leave" but parts of London and Scotland coming out strongly for "Remain".
Remain
- Gibraltar - 95.9% Remain, 4.1% Leave. The tiny overseas territory, which shares a land border with Spain, was always expected to back the EU.
- City of London - 75.3% Remain, 24.7% Leave. Home of the financial services industry, again this is no surprise.
- Glasgow City - 66.6% Remain, 33.4% Leave. This is a boost for the Remain camp although the turnout was lower than elsewhere, at just 56.2 percent. All of Scotland that has declared has voted Remain.
- London - Several heavily populated boroughs have declared strong support for Remain, including Wandsworth (75%) and Lambeth (78.6%).
Leave
- Sunderland - 61.3% Leave, 38.7% Remain. This early result, showing much stronger than expected support for the Brexit camp, sent the pound plunging.
- Wales - Polling experts were not sure which way Wales would go but its second city Swansea declared 51.5% Leave, 48.5% Remain, while several other areas followed.
- Nuneaton - 66% Leave, 34% Remain. This town in central England is seen as a bellweather of opinion in general elections.
- Blackpool - 67.5% Leave, 32.5%. This northwestern seaside resort reflects wider gains for the Brexit camp across the north of England.
Sterling plummeted as investors feared a historic blow against the alliance, an economic and political force created 60 years ago out of a determination to forge lasting peace from the carnage of two world wars.
After months of banking on Britain remaining in the bloc, major bookmakers changed their odds dramatically as results flowed in -- first making the "Leave" option a strong favourite and then switching again minutes later to give a slight edge to "Remain".
With results in for only 84 of the 382 areas that took part across Britain, the final result was on a knife edge with heavyweights including London yet to be declared.
