UK Prime Minister Theresa May now has a Halloween deadline for getting her country to agree to a plan to leave the European Union.

"This extension is as flexible as I expected and a little bit shorter than I expected but it is still enough to find the best possible solution," said European Council President Donald Tusk.  "Please do not waste this time," he cautioned his "British friends".

The original Brexit date was at the end of March, but was pushed back to 11 April because Ms. May was unsuccessful in her attempt to get Parliament to agree to the deal she had struck with the European Union.  But the extra two weeks did nothing to change the minds of the opposition parties and some of her own Tories who opposed the plan for a variety of reasons. 

Now, Ms. May has until 31 October to get the UK's act together.  However, this means the UK will have to take part in European Parliament elections a few weeks from now on 23 May.

"That might seem a bit odd," said European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, "but rules are rules and we must respect European law and then we will see what happens."

If the UK fails to hold those elections, then the Brexit geos through on 1 June even if Parliament again fails to approve any sort of plan.