A reminder that the polling stations are still open until 22:00 BST - including this one at the White Horse Inn in Priors Dean, Hampshire.

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19:45


A total of 3,578 polling stations in Wales will stay open until 22:00 BST on Thursday.

Results will be declared in each of Wales` 22 council areas overnight - with overall figures for Wales set to be announced in Deeside, Flintshire.

The UK result is expected at breakfast time on Friday.

Voters will have two choices on the ballot paper - to Remain in the European Union, or to Leave it.

Welsh party leaders have been casting their votes across the country throughout the morning.

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16:29

Shelton with Hardwick Community School in south Norfolk has got in touch to say it is holding its own mini-referendum today. It`s a rural school with 32 pupils aged 4 to 11.

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16:18

You will have noticed that our coverage of the EU referendum is limited today. That`s because broadcasters - is not allowed to report on the campaigning while the polls are open.

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15:41

Polling day just wouldn`t be the same without some pictures of dogs waiting outside polling stations. So here`s a lovely one to get us started. This is Skye, from Wheatley in Oxfordshire.

Since polls have opened there have been almost 10,000 tweets using the hashtag #Dogsatpollingstations.


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15:09

Labour MP Gisela Stuart arrives at a polling station to vote in the EU referendum.

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14:57

Voting is under way in a referendum that will decide the UK`s future relationship with the EU.

More than 600 polling stations across Northern Ireland opened at 07:00 BST on Thursday and will close at 22:00.

Counting will begin immediately after the polls close, with the result expected early on Friday morning.

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14:55

Gibraltar`s Chief Minister Fabian Picardo has voted, accompanied by his wife Justine - and huge interest from the Spanish media.

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14:39

Nigel Farage arriving at a polling station in Biggin Hill, south London, to cast his vote in the EU referendum.

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12:55

Scotland`s First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, poses for photographers at her local polling station.

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12:26

David and Samantha Cameron have cast their EU referendum votes in London.

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12:06

While voters in some parts of the UK are braving heavy rain to get to the polling stations, conditions look a bit better in Gibraltar.

The UK overseas territory has 24,117 people registered to vote in the referendum, according to the local public broadcaster, the GBC.


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10:12

Millions of Britons begin voting in historic EU referendum that will shape British-EU ties for generations.

Millions of Britons are heading to the polls to vote on whether the UK will remain a part of the European Union.

A record 46.5 million voters have signed up to weigh in on Thursday`s referendum that asks: "Should the United Kingdom remain a member of the European Union or leave the European Union?"

The divisive referendum has sparked the greatest emergency in the EU`s 60-year history.

The vote pits the Remain campaign, backed by British Prime Minister David Cameron and Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbon, against the Leave camp, led by the former London mayor, MP Boris Johnson.

Polling stations opened at 7am (06:00 GMT) and will close 10pm (21:00 GMT) local time.

There are no official exit polls because polling experts say the lack of recent comparable votes in Britain could make the results less reliable.

Results from polling will, however, be released after the ballots close.

Too close to call

On the eve of the historic vote, two polls – both conducted over the internet – put the Leave camp ahead by one or two percent. But a telephone poll gave Remain a sizeable lead of 48 percent, ahead of Leave with 42 percent.

Standing outside a fish-packing plant a day before the referendum, Leave camp leader Boris Johnson argued it was time to take back control of the UK`s industries.

"You take back control and I think it will be a big big moment for democracy in this country and around Europe," said Johnson.

Desperate to inject some pro-Europe passion late in the day on Wednesday, the prime minister and his allies made appeals to older voters, urging them to think of their children, rather than their own nostalgic views of their country.

"Think of one word that brings it all into one, which is `together`, because frankly if we want a bigger economy and more jobs we`re better if we do it together," said Cameron.

"If we want to fight climate change, we`re better if we do it together. If we want to win against the terrorists and keep our country safe, we`re better if we do it together."

The Remain camp has said a British exit would be hugely destabilising in terms of security and the economy.

Supporters of the Leave campaign argue a Brexit would be for the best, with much of its campaign focused on tighter border controls and freedom from EU regulations on immigraton and the economy.

"If we destroy the European Union, which for all its faults has nevertheless delivered a tremendous amount of cohesion within our continent, I think the consequences of that are fairly unpredictable. So for that reason, I don`t think that`s something we should wish for," Conservative MP and Remain campaigner Dominic Grieve told Al Jazeera.

`Out is out`

EU leaders have warned there will be no turning back from a vote to quite the 28-member bloc.

"Out is out," European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker said in Brussels, dismissing any chances of a post-vote renegotiation of Britain`s EU membership terms.

French President Francois Hollande has said an exit by the UK would be "irreversible".

The referendum has raised concerns across Europe that a British withdrawal could trigger a domino effect of exit votes and threaten the integrity of the bloc, already under severe strain from Eurozone and migration crises.

Even if it stays, the status quo will not be an option.

"Whatever its result is going to be, we must take a long hard look at the future of the union. We would be foolish if we ignored such a warning signal as the UK referendum," EU President Donald Tusk warned this week.

Tusk has previously said that a British leave vote could lead to the "destruction of not only the EU but also of Western political civilisation".

The EU was created after the Second World War as an antidote to the nationalism which had devastated the continent. The movement for unity was led by France and Germany.

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