Live BBC News coverage of the European election results. Photo: BBC

With Scotland and Northern Ireland left to declare, UKIP has 27.5% of the vote.

Labour, on 25%, is narrowly beating the Tories into second place while the Lib Dems lost all but one of their seats and came behind the Greens.

David Cameron said the public was "disillusioned" with the EU and their message was "received and understood".

Ed Miliband said the outcome was about more than Europe and his party must respond to a "desire for change" over a wide range of issues.

The full Scottish result will be known at noon on Monday because the Western Isles does not count votes on a Sunday. Counting in Northern Ireland begins later.

It will be the first time a national election has not been won by the Conservatives or Labour in 100 years - and the first time a party with no MPs at Westminster has achieved such a result.

Other election highlights so far are:

• Far-right, anti-EU parties, including the Front National in France, made gains across Europe, as did anti-austerity groups from the left
• Labour has 18 MEPs so far, an increase of seven on 2009, which was a record low point for the party. It topped the poll in Wales by a narrow margin from UKIP
• The Conservatives have so far secured 24% of the vote nationally and lost seven seats. The The Lib Dems slumped to fifth place
• The Green Party came fourth and has got three MEPs - one more than it achieved in 2009. BNP leader Nick Griffin lost his seat as the party was wiped out, the English Democrats also saw their vote share fall
• The BBC is predicting that the result in Scotland will be SNP on two seats, Labour on two seats and the Conservatives and UKIP with one seat each.
• Coverage is on the BBC News Channel and BBC World. You can follow all the latest news, reaction and results on bbc.co.uk/vote2014

In his victory speech at the South East of England count, UKIP leader Mr Farage said: "The people's army of UKIP have spoken tonight and have delivered just about the most extraordinary result in British politics for 100 years."

 

 

Nigel Farage: "The people's army of UKIP have spoken tonight"

He said the three main parties in Britain had led the country into the Common Market but had "twisted and turned" over an in/out referendum on EU membership.

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"The penny's really dropped that as members of this union we cannot run our own country and crucially, we cannot control our own borders," said the UKIP leader.

He later told the BBC that he was "over the moon" about his party's performance and he was more confident than ever that it would make a breakthrough at Westminster next year.

The result had "serious consequences" for the three main party leaders and he believed Nick Clegg's position as Lib Dem leader was now "untenable".

Knit one, win one? Green Party activists wait for the results

Mr Clegg faced calls to stand down ahead of Sunday night's results - something firmly rejected by senior party figures - but the BBC's Norman Smith said he expected pressure on the Lib Dem leader to increase.

A member of the party's federal executive, Martin Tod, reiterated his call for Mr Clegg to quit because voters were "not prepared" to listen to him.

He said any new leader should "prove themselves in a democratic party election".

Mr Tod, a councillor in Winchester, branded his party's results in the European elections a "disaster" and the party's response "complacent".

 

 

Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander (R) rejects calls from federal executive member Martin Tod (L) for a new party leader

But Treasury Chief Secretary Danny Alexander, who has been touted as a future leader himself, insisted Mr Clegg was "by far the best spokesman" for the Lib Dems and said "plunging the party into a period of introspection" was not the right response to the results.

The prime minister has said the results vindicate his call for change in the EU but has rejected calls by Tory grandee David Davis to bring forward the in/out EU referendum to 2016.

The Tory leadership faced further calls for an electoral pact with UKIP to avoid a split in the right of British politics at next year's general election.

 

 

Foreign Secretary William Hague: "We can fix the relationship between Britain and Europe"

Daniel Hannan, who was returned as a Tory MEP in the South East region, said it would be "sad" if the two parties "were not able to find some way, at least in marginal seats, of reaching an accommodation so that anti-referendum candidates don't get in with a minority of votes".

But Mr Cameron said it was a "myth" that the two parties had a shared agenda.

Labour was looking at one stage as if it might be beaten into third place by the Tories - a potentially disastrous result for Ed Miliband as he seeks to show he can win next year's general election.

But the party was rescued by another strong showing in London - and it took heart from local election results in battleground seats, which party spokesmen suggested were a better guide to general election performance.

 

 

Natalie Bennett: "What people are saying... is that [they're] not happy with politics as it is now"

Mr Miliband said the party was "making progress" but had "further to go" if it was to prevail in next year's general election.

BNP leader Nick Griffin lost his seat and saw his party's vote collapse by 6% in the North-West of England.

Anti-EU parties from the left and right have gained significant numbers of MEPs across all 28 member states in the wake of the eurozone crisis and severe financial squeeze.

However, pro-EU parties will still hold the majority in parliament.

Turnout across the EU is up slightly at 43.1%, according to estimates. Turnout in the UK was 33.8%, down slightly on last time.

In the European elections five years ago, the Conservatives got 27.7% of the total vote, ahead of UKIP on 16.5%, Labour on 15.7%, the Lib Dems on 13.7%, the Green Party on 8.6% and the BNP on 6.2%.