World rocked by shock poll result that will see Britain leave the European Union.

Britain will leave the European Union in a shock result which swung between the Remain and Leave camps all day after polling closed early this morning Australian time.

The Leave campaign vote stands at 16,468,162 votes to 15,387,695 for the Remain camp, more than 1.1 million votes ahead, with just 13 results left to declare.

That amounted to a margin of 51.7 per cent for the Leave campaign with almost 98 per cent of the total vote counted.

The result sent a tsunami through global finance markets, and has been tipped to claim not only British Prime Minister David Cameron, but also Labor leader Jeremy Corbyn who also strongly supported a vote to remain in Europe.

UKIP party leader and vehement anti-EU Leave campaigner Nigel Farage called it a “victory for real people” and tweeted: “we’ve got our country back. Thanks to all of you.”

“Let June 23 go down in our history as our independence day,” Farage said, promising the nation the chance to wrest control from Brussels and stem immigration.

“If the predictions now are right, this will be a victory for real people, a victory for ordinary people, a victory for decent people,” he said triumphantly after earlier in the day conceding, retracting and conceding again.

Carnage on global markets

As the Brexit vote firmed, the British pound sold off at an extraordinary rate, dropping more than 11.4 per cent on the day’s high against the US dollar to reach a 30-year low. Yes, a 30 year low! Maybe time to visit your relations in England?

The FTSE index of top 100 shares, which has closed up 1.23 per cent before the vote result became apparent, is expected to sell off heavily on Monday, with futures pricing down 8.7 per cent.

The US dollar appreciated against every major currency except the Japanese yen, as traders sought safe-haven assets.

The Australian dollar fell 4.2 per cent against the US dollar by 2.15pm AEST, and Australian shares fell heavily with the ASX200 index down 3.5 per cent mid-afternoon Friday.

What happens this week is unknown and uncertain other than emotional panic and illogical reactions to this news appears to have replaced common-sense. As we see it, we recommend to not make any hasty decisions particularly about selling down any investments.