Opinion poll suggests Britain favors remaining in EU
Holly Ellyatt | @HollyEllyatt
5 Mins Ago
CNBC.com
An illuminated 'In or Out' sign is pictured outside a house in Hangleton near Brighton in southern England, on June 23, 2016, as Britain holds a referendum on wether to stay or leave the European Union (EU).
Glynn Kirk | AFP | Getty Images
An illuminated 'In or Out' sign is pictured outside a house in Hangleton near Brighton in southern England, on June 23, 2016, as Britain holds a referendum on wether to stay or leave the European Union (EU).
Britain appears to favor remaining in the European Union in Thursday's referendum, according to a new opinion poll released after voting ended.
The YouGov poll for Sky News shows 52 percent of respondents favored staying in the economic bloc, while 48 percent of preferred leaving.
The U.K. has made its decision in the referendum on EU membership, with voting closed and the counting of votes cast started in 382 local areas, across 12 regions.
Independent polling company YouGov published a survey in which it asked people it had already polled earlier in the campaign to see how they actually voted.
Voting stopped at 10 p.m. London time with an estimated voter turnout yet to be announced (the final figure is collated from local voter turnout figures).
A final, national result expected to be declared on Friday morning around 7 a.m. after all the 382 local results are declared and then collated into totals for each of the 12 regions.
The referendum has been especially hard to predict: There is little or no data to compare the voting pattern in this referendum with. Plus, aside from the YouGov poll, the U.K.'s broadcasters have not commissioned a traditional "exit polls" such as those run after a general election.
However, several polls released earlier Thursday had pointed to a lead for the remain camp.
Sunderland, in the North of England, Wandsworth in London and Foyle in Northern Ireland are expected to be the first to report but regional results won't be announced until local area counts (within the respective region) are completed.
The working-class region of Sunderland is expected to be a bellwether of whether the leave campaign has managed to sway this demographic, according to the think tank Open Europe.
Once every regional total is announced, an official referendum result will be declared by Chief Counting Officer Jenny Watson.
Read MoreBrexit referendum: What happens once voting stops?
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