The Brexit vote has pummelled the value of the pound to its weakest level against the dollar in more than 31 years and raised the prospect of extreme volatility in other financial markets when they open later today.

Confirmation that the UK has voted to leave the European Union has sent sterling down to $1.33, depths it has not been plunged since 1985.

Meanwhile, FTSE 100 Index future derivatives, which give an indication of where the stock market will open at 8am, have slumped 8 per cent.

Some analysts have questioned whether the UK stock market will be able to open on time after volatile trading in Japan overnight, in response to the Brexit vote count, triggered automatic trading circuit breakers on the Nikkei Index.

The value of the pound soared as high as $1.50 after polls released after 10pm last night showed a Remain lead. But that mood changed rapidly when the actual count results started to come in, sending it down 11 per cent within hours, the biggest intra-day swing on record.

Nigel Farage: 'Let today be our independence day'

Analysts, including the Bank of England, have warned that the pound could ultimately fall up to 20 per cent in the wake of a Brexit vote.

That would be a collapse on a similar scale to the routs following Black Wednesday in 1992, when the UK crashed out of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism, and also the 2008 global financial crisis.

EU referendum - in pictures Show all 18 1 /18 EU referendum - in pictures EU referendum - in pictures A woman in a wheelchair with British and European Union flags shows her support for the United Kingdom to remain in the European Union on the day of the EU Referendum in Gibraltar Getty Images EU referendum - in pictures A polling station being used in the EU referendum at Batley Town Hall in the constituency Labour MP Jo Cox PA EU referendum - in pictures People arrive to vote in the EU Referendum at the Library where British MP Jo Cox was shot and fatally wounded last week in Birstall EPA EU referendum - in pictures A man arrives to vote at a polling station for the Referendum on the European Union in north London REUTERS EU referendum - in pictures Voters queue to enter a polling station at Trinity Church in Golders Green in London Getty Images EU referendum - in pictures British Prime Minister David Cameron and his wife Samantha Cameron leave after voting in the EU Referendum at Central Methodist Hall, Westminster Getty Images EU referendum - in pictures Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn cast his vote at a polling station at Pakeman Primary School in Islington Getty Images EU referendum - in pictures Chelsea pensioners arrive at a polling station near to the Royal Chelsea Hospital PA EU referendum - in pictures A woman wearing an "I'm In" t-shirt, promoting the official "Remain" campaign, leaves a polling station in London AFP/Getty Images EU referendum - in pictures People queuing outside a polling station on Amott Road in London PA EU referendum - in pictures Scotland's First Minister and Leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP), Nicola Sturgeon and her husband Peter Murrell, react as leave after casting their votes at a polling station at Broomhouse Community Hall in east Glasgow AFP/Getty Images EU referendum - in pictures A man wearing a European themed cycling jersey leaves after voting at a polling station for the Referendum on the European Union in north London REUTERS EU referendum - in pictures Ukip leader Nigel Farage arrives to cast his vote at Cudham Church of England Primary School in Biggin Hill, Kent PA EU referendum - in pictures Justice Secretary and prominent 'Vote Leave' campaigner Michael Gove poses with his wife Sarah Vine after voting in the European Union referendum at their local polling station in Kensington Getty EU referendum - in pictures Nuns leave a polling station after voting in the EU Referendum in London EPA EU referendum - in pictures People arrive to cast their ballots in the EU Referendum in Gibraltar. The United Kingdom and its dependant territories are going to the polls to decide whether or not the the United Kingdom will remain in the European Union Getty Images EU referendum - in pictures A man driving a van covered in stickers urging people to vote for the United Kingdom to remain in the European Union drives outside a polling station on the day of the EU Referendum in Gibraltar Getty Images EU referendum - in pictures A sign on a gable wall in Belfast's, Loyalist Tigers Bay urging voters to leave the EU using scripture from Revelation 18:4, as voters head to the polls across the UK in a historic referendum on whether the UK should remain a member of the European Union or leave PA

Since currencies began to float freely against each other in 1971, the pound has rarely languished below $1.40 apart from a period in the mid-1980s when the dollar was extremely strong.

Mike Van Dulken of Accendo Markets identified which company stocks are likely to be punished by traders today.