Update: Fitch becomes latest credit ratings agency to downgrade the UK

Following Standard & Poor's move earlier this evening to strip the UK of its final AAA rating, rival credit ratings agency Fitch has also downgraded the UK from AA+ to AA, warning of "an abrupt slowdown in short-term GDP growth" as a result of economic uncertainty brought about by the EU referendum.

Fitch also said that less favourable terms for exports to the EU, lower immigration and a reduction in foreign direct investment would impact medium term growth, along with an adjustment in the value of sterling and changes in the business environment.

UK stripped of final 'AAA' rating as markets sour

The UK has been stripped of its top credit rating by Standard & Poor’s, which warned that further downgrades could follow in the coming months after its decision to leave the EU.

The rating agency downgraded the UK by two notches tonight to AA, from AAA. It said uncertainty following the Brexit vote would hurt growth, push up borrowing and could trigger a constitutional crisis if it led to a second Scottish referendum.

S&P described the choice to leave the EU as a “seminal event” that would weaken the “predictability, stability, and effectiveness” of UK policymaking.

“We take the view that the deep divisions both within the ruling Conservative Party and society as a whole over the European question may not heal quickly and may hamper government stability and complicate policymaking on economic and other matters,” it said in a statement.