At 23:00 GMT on January 31, a long-awaited, oft-doubted decision was confirmed. It really happened. Almost four years after the original referendum, the United Kingdom left the European Union for good, severing ties with the rest of Europe after nearly half a century. So what happens next?

Truthfully, it is anyone’s guess. While there is seemingly a concrete plan in place, the validity of the ongoing “progress” must be called into question as the leadership of a nation has increasingly plunged into political turmoil in recent years.

For now, the terms of the U.K.’s confirmed EU departure are to be discussed in an 11-month transition (or implementation) period, sparking further uncertainty and the inevitable fractious trepidation of remainers vs excitement of leavers. 

The implementation period began immediately after Brexit Day on Feb. 1 and is due to end on Dec. 31 of this year. The deadline for an extension of this period is June 30 (providing the option for an additional one to two years of transition) and while little will change immediately, there is no going back.

During this period, the U.K. will remain in the EU’s customs union and single market, and will continue to obey EU rules which date back to 1973. It is the first original member state to withdraw. Months of negotiation now follow regarding key issues including trade, law enforcement, aviation safety, access to fishing waters, licensing and regulation of medicines and potential EU import taxes.

Crucially, the future fate of the U.K.’s distanced relationship with the remaining 27 member states comes down to whether or not a trade deal can be agreed upon. These talks on a future relationship commence on March 3. On a simpler level, from the perspective of an onlooking British citizen, the ongoing Brexit fiasco has been disastrous, bordering on comical.

The term “Brexit” has been central to the current age of politics. It has been a mess and brought shame upon the nation, giving the United States a slight respite as the laughing stock of the rest of the world’s superpowers. The faces of that shame? A pair of characters remarkably resembling their American counterpart Mr. Trump, who share a similarly colored past tainted by a series of racist, homophobic and sexist remarks about all matter of world issues.

Boris Johnson and Nigel Farage have stepped further into the limelight in the past year or so, with the former taking the reigns as Prime Minister when Theresa May stepped down last May. And so the baton was handed over to Johnson, a figure of fun who, in an unerringly similar fashion to his long-lost twin on American shores, finds himself detested and derided by the masses yet consistently having the proverbial last laugh.

As for Farage, his embarrassing misrepresentation of the U.K. as somehow being “proud” of its decision to leave the EU — a public vote characterized by a minimal 52% – 48% split in favor of leave back in 2016 — was typified as he was cut short during his final speech to the European Parliament days before Brexit’s confirmation. Waving a Union Jack flag, he unprofessionally told Europe that “we’re going to wave you goodbye, and we look forward, in the future, to working with you…” before his microphone was duly cut off. A regrettable farewell indeed.