What Day Was the UK's formal exit from the EU?

About this date

The United Kingdom formally left the European Union at 23:00 UK time, more than three and a half years after the 2016 referendum result, entering a transition period during which most EU rules continued to apply while a future trading relationship was negotiated.

The transition period itself ended later that same year, at which point the new UK-EU trading arrangements took effect.

Even after formally leaving, the UK continued following EU customs and single market rules throughout the transition period, meaning the practical day-to-day change for most businesses and travelers wasn't fully felt until the transition period's later end.

Nigel Farage, a leading figure in the campaign to leave the EU, held a celebratory rally in London the same evening, while separately, some EU citizens in the UK and Britons living in the EU faced years of residency-status uncertainty that followed.