Britain votes to leave EU, Cameron quits, markets rocked

(Reuters) - Britain has voted to leave the European Union, forcing the resignation of Prime Minister David Cameron and dealing the biggest blow since World War Two to the European project of forging greater unity.

Global stock markets plunged on Friday, and the British pound saw its biggest one day drop in history, as results from a referendum defied bookmakers' odds to show a 52-48 percent victory for the campaign to leave the bloc Britain joined more than 40 years ago.

The United Kingdom itself could now break apart, with the leader of Scotland, where nearly two-thirds of voters wanted to stay in the EU, saying a new referendum on independence from the rest of Britain was "highly likely".

German Chancellor Angela Merkel will meet French, German and Italian leaders in Berlin on Monday to discuss future steps, and the foreign ministers of Germany, France, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg, will meet on Saturday morning.

U.S. President Barack Obama on Friday tried to limit the fallout from Britain's vote to leave the European Union which threatens to harm the U.S. economic recovery and distract U.S. allies from global security issues. Obama, who had argued passionately against the UK leaving the EU in a trip to the Britain this year, vowed that Washington would still maintain both its "special relationship" with London and close ties to Brussels.

In an emotional speech on Friday, UK Prime Minister Cameron, who led the campaign to remain in Europe to defeat, after promising the referendum in 2013, said he would leave office by October.

"The British people have made the very clear decision to take a different path and as such I think the country requires fresh leadership to take it in this direction," he said in a televised address outside his residence.

"I do not think it would be right for me to be the captain that steers our country to its next destination," he added, choking back tears before walking back through 10 Downing Street's black door with his arm around his wife Samantha.

The British pound fell as much as 10 percent against the U.S. dollar on Friday to levels last seen in 1985 on fears the decision could hit investment in the world's fifth-largest economy, threaten London's role as a global financial capital, and usher in months of political uncertainty. The euro slid 2.0 percent against the U.S. dollar. [MKTS/GLOB]

World stocks saw more than $2 trillion wiped off their value. European stocks ended down 7.0 percent STOXX, the biggest one day fall since 2008. U.S. stocks fell suffered the largest selloff in ten months sharply, with the Dow Jones industrial average .DJI losing 3.4 percent. [.N]

Investors rushed to put their cash in the safety of gold which clocked up its biggest daily gain the global financial crisis of 2008, ending Friday up 5.0 percent at $1,315 an ounce. (Full Text)

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Related: (Reuters) EU's Tusk says 27 EU leaders determined to keep unity after Brexit