By Tara John, Rob Picheta, Bianca Britton and Sheena McKenzie, CNN
Johnson steps out of the car and enters the King's entrance for what is reported to be a short audience with the Queen.
When a potential prime minister is called to Buckingham Palace, the Queen asks whether they will form a government. During Her Majesty's long reign, no leader has yet declined.
A band plays on outside Buckingham Palace as part of the Changing of the Guard, a formal, regular ceremony that takes place when soldiers are relieved of their duties and replaced.
Flanked by a motorcade, Prime Minister Boris Johnson was driven from Downing Street to Buckingham Palace for his meeting with the Queen.
Crowds gathered along The Mall, the road leading to the palace, and outside the Palace -- but many might be tourists present for the Changing of the Guard.
If you're just joining us, then welcome! It was a historic victory for the Conservative Party in the UK general election.
Boris Johnson gambled and it paid off. He is the UK Prime Minister, has a handsome majority and the main opposition party has been decimated.
But what happens next on results day? Johnson is expected to make the traditional post-election journey to Buckingham Palace for an audience with the Queen. A re-elected prime minister is not required to see the Queen in person, but there has been no suggestion that Johnson will miss the opportunity to meet Her Majesty.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is likely to speak in the wake of his pledge to resign following his party's disastrous showing. A happier SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon, whose party won 48 seats -- 13 more than in 2017 -- is also expected to speak at an event in the Scottish capital Edinburgh.
From CNN's Luke McGee
No government appointments will be made today, a Number 10 spokesperson told CNN.
The public will have to wait until Monday to see how Johnson stacks his new team.
There is just one more seat to call, but bad weather on an archipelago in Britain's south west means the count has been postponed to this afternoon.
The St. Ives constituency count had been held back until 2.30 p.m. local (9.30 a.m. ET) because boats were unable to carry ballot boxes from the outer islands of the Isles of Scilly to the main island, St. Mary's, PA News reports.
Even a helicopter struggled to make the transfer.
Once the ballots are counted on St. Mary's, the outcome will be relayed to the count on the mainland before declaration is made, PA News reports.
From Narendra Modi in India to Scott Morrison in Australia, world leaders have been sending their well wishes to Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
Here's what they had to say:
"Say g’day to the quiet Britons for us," write Australian Prime Minister Morrison to Johnson on Twitter.
Fun fact, some of the people who worked on Morrison's election campaign reportedly helped Johnson in the run-up to this year's vote.
India's Prime Minister Modi congratulated Johnson for his "thumping majority."
As did Bulgaria's PM Boyko Borissov and Prime Minister of Latvia Krisjanis Karins.
Netherlands Prime Minister Mark Rutte said the British electorate had given Johnson a "clear mandate."
From CNN's Robert North
UK shares are trading higher as investors respond to Boris Johnson’s UK general election victory.
The main FTSE 100 index is around 0.5% higher in the opening minutes of trade.
The more domestically focused FTSE 250, which is made up of smaller firms, is also trading higher. It climbed 2% in early trade.
Analysis from CNN's Richard Greene
While Boris Johnson will understandably claim December 12 as a victory for himself and the Conservatives, the numbers show the real story is the electorate’s rejection of Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party.
Johnson did increase the Conservatives’ vote share over what they got in 2017, but Labour fell much further than the Conservatives rose.
The SNP, Brexit Party, Greens and Liberal Democrats all ate into Labour’s vote -- and in this first-past-the-post system, the smaller parties nibbling away at Labour gave the Conservatives a chance to gobble up a huge swathe of seats.
One big surprise of the 2017 election was how much of the country voted for one or the other of the two big parties, Labour or the Conservatives.
That election may turn out to have been a blip -- and 2019 may signal the return to a more fragmented electorate.
Watch a clip from Boris Johnson's victory speech, which he ended with, "You may only have lent us your vote and you may not think of yourself as a natural Tory ... I am humbled that you have put your trust in me and that you have put your trust in us."