Chris Brazier, a senior associate who specialises in business immigration at law firm B P Collins, says that given members of the Leave campaign assured UK nationals in Europe in the run up to the referendum that they would not be affected by Brexit, he suspects that those already living in the EU will not be forced to leave. “That said, it would seem sensible for ex-patriates to assess their options such as obtaining permanent leave in the EU country where they are based, but each country will have different rules which should be carefully considered before doing anything at this early stage,” he says.

With a cloud of uncertainty hanging over them, each of the women have started thinking about their future. “I'm considering looking into getting another passport somehow,” says Chappell. “I've joked with friends here that I should try and find myself a German or at least EU-born husband pronto so I can claim citizenship through him when the time comes.”

Like a flood of others in the UK and abroad, Downey’s husband is in the process of applying for his Irish passport on the back of his father being Irish. The couple are also considering relocating the registration of our company to Ireland so that they can remain within the EU. “With so many unanswered questions, the next couple of years for us are going to create great uncertainty for our business and our family. At present we just have to sit tight and wait to see what type of settlement is negotiated. After four years of really hard work to get our company going and achieve outstanding feedback from all of our clients on the holidays we deliver, it would be devastating if that was all for nothing, simply because we couldn't make it work in the future due to the decision the country has made to leave the EU.”

Still, at least some Europeans reacted to the result with humour. “I was in Spain for a wedding last weekend and the Spanish took the piss out of us, saying "non-Europeans at the other side of the bar please,” laughs Hargreaves. At least we can still bank on our European neighbours for some light relief while we face uncertain times.