Shares plunged and the pound plummeted to a 31-year low as panicked traders reacted to the UK’s vote to leave the EU and the prospect of recession amid months of market turmoil.

The FTSE 100 fell more than 8% within the first few minutes of trading on Friday, with shares in banks particularly hard hit and nursing their biggest falls since the collapse of the US investment bank Lehman Brothers in 2008.

At the opening bell on Wall Street, US shares were down sharply, with the Dow Jones industrial average shedding more than 500 points, down nearly 3%. There were even sharper falls on bourses in mainland Europe, where economists said Brexit would hurt an already fragile recovery.

FTSE breaks 20-year record by closing at all-time high for a ninth consecutive day as Britain's economy continues to defy Brexit doom-mongers

FTSE 100 index rises 37.7 points today to hit 7275.47 to hit all-time high for ninth day in a row.