Toby Melville/Reuters
The United Kingdom has voted to leave the European Union in a stunning decision that sent world markets into a frenzy on Friday, with the British pound plummeting and oil prices slumping. Shortly after midnight on Friday. or 5 a.m. U.K. time, forecasters said Brexit had won, with 52% of the vote. The British pound sank 9 percent on the news, and stock markets across the world were also rocked by the news. Japan temporarily halted trading as Asian markets fell, and U.S. markets seemed equally frightened by the news as stock index futures fell. In England, Pro-Brexit politicians took the opportunity to call on Prime Minister David Cameron to resign. Scottish politicians said there would be "consequences" after Scotland's decision to remain hadn't been respected, fueling speculation that Scotland, which voted to remain in the EU, may call its own referendum on independence from the U.K.