The German Foreign Office has announced a novel approach to dealing with the fallout of the Brexit vote.

"We are off now to an Irish pub to get decently drunk. And from tomorrow on we will again work for a better #Europe. Promised!", the German Foreign Office tweeted this morning.

Worried European leaders will hold a series of crisis talks in coming days after 52 per cent of British voters opted to leave the European Union in a decision which sent shockwaves through the continent.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she would host the leaders of France and Italy along with EU President Donald Tusk in Berlin on Monday (local time) to try to chart a reform plan.

The 27 remaining EU leaders will meet separately without British Prime Minister David Cameron in Brussels next week to discuss Britain's exit.

The European Parliament will pass a motion urging Mr Cameron to trigger the exit process by invoking what is known as Article 50.

"We take note of the British people's decision with regret," Ms Merkel told reporters in Berlin.

Mr Tusk, who had earlier warned that a Leave vote could "end Western political civilisation" — put on a brave face, saying that "what does not kill you makes you stronger".