On the surface it might have looked as though nothing had changed, but on Saturday morning millions of people awoke in a nation that had officially left the European Union.
After 47 years of membership, and more than three-and-a-half years on from the historic referendum that sealed the UK’s departure, Brexit finally happened at 11pm on Friday.
Many of those who had waited years for that exact moment gathered in a Union Jack-lined Parliament Square for a party led by Nigel Farage, breaking out into a renditions of Rule Britannia and the national anthem as they awaited the 11 (pre-recorded) bongs that rang out to mark Brexit.
In an address to the nation Boris Johnson – who was a key figure in the Vote Leave campaign – said the UK’s exit from the EU was “not an end but a beginning”.
Despite “all its strengths” and admirable qualities, “the EU has evolved over 50 years in a direction that no longer suits this country”, the prime minister said.
“This is the dawn of a new era in which we no longer accept that your life chances – your family’s life chances – should depend on which part of the country you grow up in,” Johnson added.
With Big Ben undergoing repairs and unable to ring to mark Brexit, revellers brought their own ‘Little Ben’ – a modified Victorian cart featuring a small church bell.
Nigel Farage told the crowd: “The people have beaten the establishment.
“The real winner tonight is democracy. And I am someone who believes we should be pro-Europe, but not the European Union.”
A ‘celebratory reception’ was also held at Number 10 – where a light show projected onto the building counted down to 11pm – for senior ministers, officials, and supporters of the Leave campaign.
According to the BBC, Johnson’s guests were served English sparkling wine, beef and Yorkshire pudding canapés, fillet of lamb on toast and Shropshire blue cheese.
But not everyone was celebrating the UK’s departure. Hundreds of pro-EU campaigners gathered at the Angel of Peace Statue in Hove. Carrying EU flags, demonstrators lit candles and sang Ode to Joy, the European anthem.
In Scotland – where 62% of voters backed Remain – rallies and candlelit vigils took place across the country, while government buildings St Andrew’s House and Victoria Quay were lit up in the colours of the EU flag.
By Saturday morning little evidence of the celebrations in Parliament Square remained, other than some discarded Union Jacks and muddy footprints on the grass.
Street cleaners were also sweeping away the remnants of the party while staging used by speakers including Nigel Farage had been removed overnight.
While January 31 will go down in the history books as the moment Brexit officially happened, very little will change in the day-to-day lives of people in Britain in 2020.
This is because the UK has now entered the ‘transition period’, which is set to last until December 31.
During this 11-month period – which has been designed to allow the UK and EU to negotiate what their future relationship will look like – the UK will remain in the European single market and customs union.
Meanwhile, EU laws will also still apply until the end of the transition and freedom of movement will continue.
However, UK leaders will be able to start negotiating free trade deals with other countries. Britain will also no longer have seats in the European Parliament, Commission or Council.
On Friday night, the British flag was removed from its pole outside the European parliament in Brussels and replaced with an EU flag.
In a tweet, former PM Theresa May – whose own Brexit deal was rejected three times by parliament – said: “After more than three years, we can finally say we have delivered on the result of the 2016 referendum and have kept faith with the British people.”
French president Emmanuel Macron said Brexit was an “alarm signal” which should be heard across the EU.
“At midnight, for the first time in 70 years, a country will leave the European Union,” he said. “It is a historic alarm signal that must be heard in each of our countries.”
Meanwhile, former European Council president Donald Tusk tweeted: “My dear British friends. We were, we are, and we will always be a community. And no Brexit will ever change that.”