European Union workers who work in Britain expressed fear and confusion over what happens next on Saturday, as their adoptive country begins the long process of unwinding its many ties to continental Europe.

An entire class of cosmopolitan entrepreneurs, workers, students and strivers who have made the UK their home since Britain opened its borders to its EU neighbours now see their futures in limbo.

Immigrants have changed the face of Britain, turning London's Kensington neighbourhood into a suburb of Paris, sleepy English towns like Boston into Baltic enclaves, and filling supermarket shelves across the nation with Polish lager and Wiejska sausage.

The biggest impact may be on the Poles - the largest group of foreign EU workers in the UK.

An estimated 850,000 people have left Poland for the UK to seek wages and opportunities far beyond what they could ever expect in their ex-communist homeland - a flow so dramatic that Polish is now England's second-most-spoken language.

But despite others' concerns, Polish businessman Andrew Makulsky was optimistic.

Over the long-term though, the lives of the estimated three million EU citizens living in Britain may change in ways big and small.

A survey commissioned by the Financial Times found that if Britain's current immigration rules were applied to EU nationals, the overwhelming majority would lose their jobs and be forced to leave the country - catastrophic news for Spanish barristers, Romanian strawberry pickers, German investment bankers and the industries that rely on them.

Greek expatriate Flora Michalopoulou settled in the United Kingdom in early 2014 after difficult times in Greece following the financial crisis.

A trained psychologist working with autistic children, she worked for months with no pay. When her partner's employment suffered the same fate, they decided to move to Scotland.

Flora had previously studied in England but by 2014 it felt too expensive, so they opted for Edinburgh.

She said the UK's vote to leave the European Union came as a shock and she doesn't really know what it vote will mean.

Back in London, French investment banker Marc Miller feared the consequences the referendum would have on him because of London's role as a financial services centre.

Under British law, EU immigrants who have resided in the UK for more than five years can apply for permanent residency.

In practice, however, few EU citizens have bothered as their passports already allow them to travel freely and easily access education, health care, pensions and other services in Britain.

European Union workers who work in Britain expressed fear and confusion over what happens next on Saturday, as their adoptive country begins the long process of unwinding its many ties to continental Europe.

An entire class of cosmopolitan entrepreneurs, workers, students and strivers who have made the UK their home since Britain opened its borders to its EU neighbours now see their futures in limbo.

Immigrants have changed the face of Britain, turning London's Kensington neighbourhood into a suburb of Paris, sleepy English towns like Boston into Baltic enclaves, and filling supermarket shelves across the nation with Polish lager and Wiejska sausage.

The biggest impact may be on the Poles - the largest group of foreign EU workers in the UK.

An estimated 850,000 people have left Poland for the UK to seek wages and opportunities far beyond what they could ever expect in their ex-communist homeland - a flow so dramatic that Polish is now England's second-most-spoken language.

But despite others' concerns, Polish businessman Andrew Makulsky was optimistic.

Over the long-term though, the lives of the estimated three million EU citizens living in Britain may change in ways big and small.

A survey commissioned by the Financial Times found that if Britain's current immigration rules were applied to EU nationals, the overwhelming majority would lose their jobs and be forced to leave the country - catastrophic news for Spanish barristers, Romanian strawberry pickers, German investment bankers and the industries that rely on them.

Greek expatriate Flora Michalopoulou settled in the United Kingdom in early 2014 after difficult times in Greece following the financial crisis.

A trained psychologist working with autistic children, she worked for months with no pay. When her partner's employment suffered the same fate, they decided to move to Scotland.

Flora had previously studied in England but by 2014 it felt too expensive, so they opted for Edinburgh.

She said the UK's vote to leave the European Union came as a shock and she doesn't really know what it vote will mean.

Back in London, French investment banker Marc Miller feared the consequences the referendum would have on him because of London's role as a financial services centre.

Under British law, EU immigrants who have resided in the UK for more than five years can apply for permanent residency.

In practice, however, few EU citizens have bothered as their passports already allow them to travel freely and easily access education, health care, pensions and other services in Britain.

London - 25 June 2016

1. Polish people singing Polish national anthem and cheering before watching Poland - Sweden Euro 2016 football match

2. Andrew Makulsky playing trumpet

3. Polish flag

4. SOUNDBITE (English) Andrew Makulsky, Chairman of Polish club and restaurant and businessman:

"We are working here, very hard. Everybody works officially, legally, we pay taxes to Her Majesty. I am sure everything is fine. Maybe today and yesterday - big panic, but slowly slowly, I think situation will be back to normal. It's not very good news about what happened yesterday, but I am thinking positive."

6. Various of people in Polish club

Edinburgh, Scotland - 25 June 2016

7. View of Edinburgh castle

8. Various of people walking in the hills

9. Greek expatriate Flora Michalopoulou walking in the hills overlooking the mountain

10. SOUNDBITE (English) Flora Michalopoulou, Greek expatriate living in Scotland:

"So I had been living in Greece and because of the financial crisis I wasn't getting paid for my work and I couldn't find another job, so I decided to move back to the UK and I came and settled in Edinburgh in February 2014. (Michalopoulou walking past Edinburgh Castle) We've been here ever since, and now our life is here. Well, the initial reaction is a feeling of not being wanted, and there is part of me that thinks maybe there is something in that. Maybe I am taking the job away from someone who's local and maybe deserves it, in a way. On the other hand, I work hard for what I do, my employers want me to be here. I'm sure that if it came to supporting me staying here by documentation or something like that, I'm sure they would. But it's very discordant because we felt very welcome in Scotland by the people, by employers, by the government, everything. It's been so positive and so welcoming. And this referendum was kind of a slap in the face. It's like you're not wanted by everyone. You're not wanted anywhere."

13. Flora's dog Boughatsa, named after a Greek cream pastry, running around the hills

14. Various of flowers

15. SOUNDBITE (English) Flora Michalopoulou, Greek expatriate living in Scotland:

"I think we're in denial that anything will change, because we are here and we are settled here. I don't think and they (her Greek friends) don't think we're going to find a difference in our everyday life or in how we apply for jobs, we apply for houses and how we live our life. But it may not be true. Maybe we'll need visas or it'll be expensive or it may be that we'll need to become residents, or it may be that coming in or out of the country is going to be all that more difficult and all the more difficult for our families to come visit us."

16. Flora stroking Boughatsa

17. Close-up Boughatsa

18. Boughatsa running around the hills

19. Various landscape

London - 25 June 2016

20. Various of London streets

21. Mid of French cafe

22. SOUNDBITE (English) Marc Miller, French investment banker:

"I think that the result is actually really bad. It's bad for me personally, because I believe that as a banker in this country I will be affected certainly by what has happened."

23. Cutaway sign reading "Boulangerie

24. SOUNDBITE (English) Marc Miller, French investment banker:

"Part of ability to sell services will be taken away, which means job losses here and consecutively probably relocation to other European countries, which probably could be a benefit for other European countries, and I think it will be, but it will clearly be a negative for London as financial services centre."

25. Various of Marc Miller walking away