welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. i'm duncan golestani. our main story this hour: centrist parties are the big losers in the european elections, with the highest voter turnout in 20 years. smaller parties make big gains. in germany, the greens become the second largest party, the far—right comes fourth and the established parties do badly. translation: today's election results, the ones we have so far, are telling us that the middle, the democratic centre that is willing to compromise, is weakened through this election, in france, the far—right national rally led by marine le pen came just ahead of the en marche party of president emmanuel macron. in the uk, the brexit party wins

most seats but pro—remain parties also make big gains. and in greece, the government fares so badly the prime minister calls a snap general election. welcome to bbc news. over the next hour, we will bring you right up to date with all that's happened in the european elections. a huge democratic exercise across 28 nations that has seen some fascinating trends and it tells us as much about attitudes towards the union as it does about what's going on in each of those countries. this

is the projection, the large slice of loo is the european people's party. still the largest party but a much smaller slice. on the left, the s&d, the socialist and democratic party, the centre—left grouping, a large party but with reduced seats and the key thing to notice is that they might be the two large parties, but they have lost their overall majority if the projections are correct. that will mean interesting power play going in the coming months. looking at turnout, this will be heartening to the officials in the eu, because it is nowjust over 51%, up from 42.6% in 2014. it reverses a decline over the last few decades. turnout at 51%.

a good a good night a good night for a good night for right a good night for right groups a good night for right groups and a good night for right groups and populist parties across the eu, and also for the greens. here's ramzan karmali with this update. over 200 million people have cast their votes in 28 countries across their votes in 28 countries across the european union. that's a turnout of 51%, the highest in 20 years. their verdict, well, it's been a bad night for the mainstream parties that currently make up the coalition within the european parliament stopping the leader of the christian democrats in germany, the party party of current chancellor angela merkel, conceded her party hadn't done enough to persuade voters to stick with them. translation: we haven't been dynamic, we have to concede that during our time in government, we haven't given the decisive answer is the people in germany expect of us. the mainstream parties that make up the coalition in the 751 seat

parliament looks to be lost. the centre—right bloc in light blue still looks like it will have the most seats. its coalition partner the socialists in red will still be second. both the liberals and greens have made significant gains and now perhaps will be part of a future coalition. populist parties have gained ground in a number of countries, including france, where marine le pen won her head battle with macron. her national rally party looks to have edged out en marche! . translation: party looks to have edged out en marche! . translationzlj party looks to have edged out en marche! . translation: i see in party looks to have edged out en marche! . translation: isee in this a victory in the people who have taken power a victory in the people who have ta ken power back a victory in the people who have taken power back tonight with fierceness and dignity. we welcome these results with joy and the national rally‘s name has never been more fitting. whether you voted with your heart or your reason, be assured that a vote for the national rally is a vote for france and for the people. the greek prime minister alexis tsipras called for an early general election after his conservative rival party easily one. perhaps the

biggest winner among the nationalist parties was in italy where deputy prime minister matteo salvini's far—right league is expected to beat the democratic party into second. he wa nts to the democratic party into second. he wants to force a new alliance of right wing nationalists across europe. in the uk, it was a vote that wasn't meant to take place for a parliament the british public has already voted to leave in 2016 and there's still the small chance elected meps might not even take up their seats onjuly elected meps might not even take up their seats on july the second elected meps might not even take up their seats onjuly the second if britain leaves by then. a big win for the brexit party, yeah, which i'm pleased about. nigel farage and his newlyformed brexit party is set to win ahead of the pros remain liberal democrats. the big story is how the two dominant parties, the conservatives and labour, saw their share of the vote capitulate. between them they couldn't even secure a quarter of all the oats. there will be hardly any time before the next bit of

business the eu. leaders have been invited to a summit on thursday to who gets the top jobs, including the presidencies of the council and the commission. let's go straight to brussels. adam fleming is our brussels correspondent. adam, lots of results, what is your big takeaway from the last few hours? i am looking at it from the perspective of how the institutions will change and what's happened in the european parliament tonight is the european parliament tonight is the stranglehold, the big ce ntre—left the stranglehold, the big centre—left and centre—right political groups here have had on the business of the european parliament for decades and decades has disappeared. between them the ce ntre—left has disappeared. between them the centre—left and the centre—right across europe do not have enough seats in the european parliament to control the agenda and to guarantee legislation will get through. to do that, they will have to rely on support from the greens and from the

much larger liberal group now as well, which includes emmanuel macron's en marche! also the greens are including lots of greens meps in places like germany, part of something that's being called the green wave. in the next few days it will be intriguing to see whether they form a ben haddad to work together and whether that involves a coalition agreement or a roadmap for the roadmap of eu business. when these groups build a roadmap or decide the direction of the eu, they will come in contact with the —— conflict with the chancellors and their leaders of the member states. another thing that will unfold is kickstarting the process for selecting and appointing those top jobs. a new president of the european commission, a new foreign policy chief, because the committees say those appointments are meant to reflect the results of the european

parliament elections. is at the european parliament that will call the shots with those appointments or the shots with those appointments or the presidents and the leaders of the presidents and the leaders of the member states? lots to do and lots of uncertainty, adam. let's drill down into it and the leader of the european people's party said earlier that there was now a shrinking centre. if a message is being sent to brussels, do you think it's a message they will respond to? well, they don't have a lot of choice because if you look at how the seats are carved out in the european parliament, the majority they are going to have now will be, asi they are going to have now will be, as i said, made up of the centre—right, the centre—left, the liberals and the greens and their all broadly on the same page when it comes to being pro— european, although you get some people more in favour of a bit more europe and some people may be a bit more pragmatic. i think if you voted for somebody who is protesting, if you're somebody who doesn't want more

europe or who it is anti the european project, you're going to be probably disappointed because i think the direction of this place will be broadly pro—eu and the reason that's happened is this big populist or nationalist surge, whatever you want to call it, the labels are confusing and not very accurate, hasn't really materialised. in places like italy, matteo salvini's league did very well and in france, marine le pen's national rally came first but they did as well as last time. in other parties like denmark, the populist and the anti— european parties didn't do very well. if you're looking at the rise of populism, you're not looking at a rise, you're looking at a net result of the same as the last elections in 2014 and that's one of the big surprises, the populists and opponents of the eu won't be marching on the eu parliament with flaming torches to tear it down because they haven't

done as well as some people thought and feared. sounds like everyone can look in and find the story that they want to find, which i imagine lots of politicians will be doing in the coming days. let's talk about the green surge, the greenway from the green surge, the greenway from the green parties, will they be able to influence legislation in a larger way is yellow that's really hard to say, and i think we need to look at the next couple of days to find out the next couple of days to find out the roadmap for the coalition agreement the big pro— european blocks will coalesce around. we've heard representatives of the green party saying one of the big areas they will want to influence things on is trade deals the eu does in future and they will insist there is a big—screen environmental climate component in every deals the eu does in future component in every deals the eu does infuture —— component in every deals the eu does in future —— big green. their knocking at an open door because lots of other parties saw the rise of the green agenda and green

environmental issues and climate issues were playing a big part in these elections, and your hearing other big parties saying that they will address that. —— you are hearing. we can put the rise of the green party is on the shoulder of the young swedish climate activist —— green parties. her mission to get school students to go on strike every friday for the last few months has had a real impact. in terms of when you asked people across europe what one of their priorities was, the environment has shot up in the last couple of months. that might be a product of the fact lots of the big problems the eu has had over the last few years, dealing with migration and the eurozone crisis and the sovereign debt crisis, those things have massively died away to be replaced by other issues and one of those big issues is the environment. in terms of the

shifting numbers for the main groupings, adam, what does this mean for the big jobs in brussels which will be up for grabs?” for the big jobs in brussels which will be up for grabs? i think there will be up for grabs? i think there will be up for grabs? i think there will be a massive tussle between the european parliament, which will come to its interpretation of what these results mean, and has the centre—right done well enough, for example, that their candidate from germany now has the best claim for the topjob, or is it frans timmins, the topjob, or is it frans timmins, the lead candidate for the ce ntre—left, the lead candidate for the centre—left, he personally did quite well in the netherlands, and he's been hearing a lot of work to build a coalition of progressive parties. just the centre—left but the greens and the liberals, do they throw their weight behind him? and parliament's position their weight behind him? and pa rliament‘s position is their weight behind him? and parliament's position is he has the best chance to lead the commission and he has the best call on that job. tomorrow on tuesday, there's a meeting of eu leaders, a special summit, where they will come to their own interpretation of what

these results mean and what it means for the process of appointing the president of the commission, a foreign policy chief and then further down the line a president of the european council. in the next few days we will see and arms race between the european parliament and the leaders of the individual countries over who gets those top jobs. they are importantjobs, they might not be household names across the eu with members of the public, but the person in charge of the european commission and the person who chairs the summits of the eu leaders has a massive influence on daily low in brussels and eu institutions —— daily life in. daily low in brussels and eu institutions -- daily life in. adam, thank you very much, adam, our correspondent in brussels and. we were talking about the lack of an overall majority with the two major parties in. the european commission vice—president forjobs, growth, investment and competitiveness, and the former prime minister of finland, jyrki katainen, spoke to ros atkins. he gave ros his thoughts on what this means for the future of centrist parties.

it's pretty clear that both the epp and the socialist group have lost some seats, but looking at it from the other dimensional, it's also clear that pro— european forces have w011 clear that pro— european forces have won the elections. in order to form a coalition, a pro— european coalition, there must be more parties. for instance, epp, socialists, alde and the greens, for instance. i'm relieved because populists and nationalists got less more seats than expected. do you the these results also emphasise perhaps centrist parties like yours having given voters the solutions to the problems they care about most, like immigration and climate change? this may be the case. centrist parties must make sure that their voices are

heard and the messages are clear. the rise of nationalism has also created a pushback effect. i'm very happy that the turnout this time around was higher than before, and also pro— european forces will form the overwhelming majority in the european parliament, so this is good news. you will sometimes hear critics say these elections are really just 28 critics say these elections are reallyjust 28 national elections, there is nothing coherent about them ata there is nothing coherent about them at a european level. now we're these results coming in do you think we can talk about a european politics existing? well, this time around i guess these elections were more european elections than previous european elections than previous european parliamentary elections because of the rise of nationalism and populism, meaning people thought

that it and populism, meaning people thought thatitis and populism, meaning people thought that it is not right, we have to push back, we have to make sure that european issues, european union and european issues, european union and european integration is taken forward. for instance, topics like climate change, circular economy, security and defence, artificial intelligence, migration, many people understand that those are too big to solve at a national level and we need more... we need at european union and more effective european union. the result where pro—european forces are formed or are getting a co mforta ble forces are formed or are getting a comfortable majority in the european parliament tells us quite clearly that people were worried about the current development. let's go to italy where the far right league party won the most votes.

its coalition partner the anti—establishment five star movement was beaten by the centre—left democratic party which came second. they are said to get 28 seeds, by 23. -- they are said to get 28 seeds, by 23. —— seats. and you can see the other groups there as well. let's go on to the shower, though, this is particularly interesting. the league got 34%, compare that to 2014 where they got 6.2%. and as you go down you see their coalition partners, five star got 17%, that is most and exact —— almost an exact inversion of how the coalition has been going in italy. we'll get some analysis on that in just in italy. we'll get some analysis on that injust a in italy. we'll get some analysis on that in just a moment. in italy. we'll get some analysis on that injust a moment. but in italy. we'll get some analysis on that in just a moment. but first let's hear from matteo salvini,

leader of the five star party. translation: it is not only the league, marine le pen has the first party in france, nigel farage is the first party in britain, so italy, france, great britain. it is the sign ofa france, great britain. it is the sign of a europe that is changing, europe tired of the powers of the elites, finance and multinationals. and from tomorrow we will have to redouble our efforts. mall tales of any there. let's go to rome and speak to no other mcgovern —— matteo salvini, while the mcgovern i think some people are taking a look at the 3.6% and wondering exactly what will matteo salvini go with that number. we have had some sound problems with

the line there in rome. we will come back to you in a moment. let's crossover the continents and go to germany. it was a good election there for the greens as we mentioned earlier. chancellor angela merkel‘s centre—right christian democrats had their worst—ever performance in european elections. meanwhile, the centre—left social democrats also did poorly, coming third. and do we have the share? and we can see this year there. the greens 21%, up see this year there. the greens 21%, up 10%. doing very well across the continent in denmark and the uk, but particularly in germany. ska keller is a german mep and co—founder of the european green bloc, she's been speaking to my colleague ros atkins. we're very thankful for the trust that the voters all over europe have put into the green party and for us this is now a big task and big

responsibility to put our demands into practice when it comes to climate protection, but also when it comes to making sure the european union becomes a social union. those two big centrist blocks, the ebp and esd are going to want to talk to you because they need you to have a functioning majority. what do you wa nt functioning majority. what do you want in return for voting with them on occasion? for us it is clear. we are the greens and we want to put green policies into place. so we wa nt to green policies into place. so we want to vote for policies of climate protection, we want to create a social europe with social protection for everyone, social rides for eve ryo ne for everyone, social rides for everyone and we want to make sure the rule of law and civil liberties are the rule of law and civil liberties a re protected the rule of law and civil liberties are protected everywhere in europe including hungary. some people are sceptical of the european parliament does make ability to influence the other institutions of the european union, particularly the council and commission. you believe from your position within the parliament you can do it? yes. parliament is the

normal co— legislature, so together we are doing the legislature, no—one can legislate anything without the european parliament so we have a strong voice as parliament and we also have a very strong voice for climate protection, for biodiversity protection and we are going to use that voice. that was ska keller coming off the back of us about how well the greens did in germany and it was largely at the expense of chancellor angela merkel‘s centre—right christian democrats. they had their worst ever performance in the european elections. so, a difficult note for them. let's go over to france. —— difficult night. in france, marine le pen's far—right national rally finished ahead of president macron's en marche party. le pen lost out to macron in a bitter presidential contest in 2017. now she's calling for the head of state to dissolve the parliament and call new elections, a proposal that was immediately rejected by the government.

translation: i see in the sea victory of the people who have taken power back tonight with fierceness and dignity. —— i see in this. the national rally‘s name has never been more fitting. whether you voted with your heart or your reason, be assured that a vote for the national rally is over france and the vote of the people. let's go to greece. we said at the beginning of the programme that these elections would have a profound effect, notjust on the eu, but on the political landscape of all 28 countries voting. and in greece, the governing party is projected to have done so badly that the prime minister has called early elections. here he is speaking. translation: right after the second round of local government elections on the second ofjune, i will immediately ask the president to declare national elections. in the end, the greek people will be the

only ones to make the final decision. now the uk wasn't supposed to be taking part in these elections, but divisions over a delayed brexit have deepened and it looks like that may have had an impact at the ballot box. let's take a look. the brexit party has declared victory in nine regions, support for the conservatives has job considerably as well as the opposition labor party. highlighting the difficult stances on brexit, we're going to talk about that in a moment, the first let's hearfrom mr farage. the intelligence i get is that the brexit party is doing pretty well, the lib dems are doing pretty well, the lib dems are doing pretty well, the lib dems are doing pretty well, but it looks like, looks like it's going to be a big win for the brexit party. yeah, which i'm pleased about. so that was

nigel farage speaking earlier. let's speak to our correspondence naomi grimley whojoins me in speak to our correspondence naomi grimley who joins me in the studio here. a huge note for him. unbelievable that the brexit party was formed so recently. indeed. the conservatives were bracing themselves for terrible results, but it really is quite extraordinary when you look at london, for example, they only pulled 8% of the votes, the conservatives. they've gone down from 19 meps and they are frankly looking at the worst result since they were founded in the early 18305. since they were founded in the early 1830s. that's the governing conservative party in the uk. let's go to the main opposition labor party because they are not without their own difficulties? no, not good news for them at all, they have been forced into third place because the liberal democrats seem to have enjoyed a resurgence perhaps because they had a very clear line on brexit that they wanted to remain. labour

on the other hand had to be rather syriza, they were for a second referendum but only in certain circumstances. —— contorted. so for them it so most like they did the splits in this election and it left many senior labour figures splits in this election and it left many senior labourfigures in despair. soaking about splits, yes the brexit party has done well, but also with the remain leading parties it comes out at about equal, so very briefly, another difficult divide in the uk. indeed. people are trying to read the runes of these results to see what could happen in a referendum but it is hard to do that. i think basically it's a sign that. i think basically it's a sign that written is still polarised,

still divided. ok, that written is still polarised, still divided. 0k, naomi, thank you very much. that's where we live it. we'll be back with more coverage soon. you're watching bbc news. hello. it wouldn't be a bank holiday weekend without some rain around. unfortunately, those of us who need it most are actually seeing very little. sussex was one of the counties that avoided most of the showers on sunday. by contrast, we've had a lot of rain across parts of scotland, particularly highland and aberdeenshire, 30 millimetres, well over an inch, injust 24 hours. now this frontal system lingers as we're going to bank holiday monday across scotland. so that is going to keep the rain going across the middle belt, southern scotland and parts of the far north of england and northern ireland. elsewhere, it's a day of sunny spells and scattered showers. but the showers are most frequent across north—west and south—west england and wales.

a brisk north—westerly wind will push them into southern counties of england. more on the way of sunshine here so higher temperatures. 18 or 19 celsius. mid to high teens for most. and going to the evening, they will tend to fade but some showery rain reforming across northern ireland, parts of wales, eastern scotland and elsewhere variable cloud and clear spells. it will be a cool night compared to the notes we have had to the bank holiday weekend. —— nights. we've still got this little frontal system diving its way southwards, generating showers. the winds will be lighter but they are coming from the north or north—west so the cool air we've been seeing across scotland will start to dig its way a little bit further south—west. on tuesday, a cool start and quite

a few showers developing on central and eastern areas. the best chance for east anglia to see some decent rain will be from the showers. further west, the best of the sunshine here, temperatures foremost in the mid—teens, maybe 17—18 celsius. wednesday will see this area of high pressure building from the south—west, that is going to kill off most of the showers across england and wales. it should be a dry and fine day here, still some showers to talk about across the western side of scotland after a sunny start for much of the uk, the cloud will build. for much of england, wales and southern scotland it will be mainly dry. temperatures typically again in the mid—teens, 17 or 18 further south. to sum up the week ahead. it is going to be coolerfor a time but there will be some rain, but for those who need it most there may not be very much. goodbye.

this is bbc news, with cointinuing coverage of the european parliamentary elections. in the european parliamentary elections, there have been sharp falls in support for established centrist parties. most of the gains have gone to smaller parties on the left and right, as well as the greens. voter turnout was significantly higher than the last elections five years ago. in the uk, the brexit party won most seats with just under a third of the vote. the governing conservative party received the lowest share of the vote in its entire history. however, the liberal democrats and greens, which both want britain to remain in the eu, also made significant gains. in greece, the governing syriza party performed so badly

that the prime minister, alexis tsipras, said he would soon call an early general election. the opposition new democracy party appeared to be around nine percentage points ahead. syriza was first elected to power six years ago on an anti—austerity programme. welcome to bbc news. let's talk you through the main points. a story really in three parts. the two main centrist parties have lost their overall combined majorities. the two big power players. european people's party in light blue, still the biggest slice, but they have lost seats. s&d, the socialists and democrats, a large group but much smaller. they've lost

their overall combined majority, meaning the power dynamic in brussels and strasbourg will have now changed because they will have to work with the smaller parties. a better night for populist and nationalist parties. nigel farage in the uk, marine le pen in france, viktor orban in hungary, and the greens did very well in many countries, including germany, denmark and the uk. turnout was much better than it has been for about 20 years really. 51% compared to 42.6% five years ago in 2014, so that will be very heartening for eu officials. let's get a round—up of the last few hours and how the eu is now looking. here's ramzan karmali with this update. over 200 million people have cast their votes in 28 countries across the european union.

that's a turnout of 51%, the highest in 20 years. their verdict — well, it's been a bad night for the mainstream parties that currently make up the coalition within the european parliament. the leader of the christian democrats in germany, the party of the current chancellor angela merkel, conceded her party hadn't done enough to persuade voters to stick with them. translation: we haven't been dynamic, we have to concede that during our time in government, we haven't given the decisive answer is the people in germany expect of us. the mainstream parties that make up the coalition in the 751—seat parliament looks to be lost. the centre—right bloc, in light blue, still looks like it will have the most seats. its coalition partner, the socialists in red, will still be second. both the liberals and the greens have made significant gains and now perhaps will be part of a future coalition. populist parties have gained ground in a number of countries, including france, where marine le pen won her head

battle with president macron. her national rally party looks to have edged out en marche. translation: i see in this a victory in the people who have taken power back tonight with fierceness and dignity. we welcome these results with joy and the national rally‘s name has never been more fitting. whether you voted with your heart or your reason, be assured that a vote for the national rally is a vote for france and for the people. the greek prime minister alexis tsipras called for an early general election after his conservative rival party easily won. perhaps the biggest winner among the nationalist parties was in italy where deputy prime minister matteo salvini's far—right league is expected to beat the democratic party into second. he wants to force a new alliance of right wing nationalists across europe. in the uk, it was a vote that wasn't meant to take place for a parliament

the british public have already voted to leave in 2016. and there's still the small chance elected meps may not even take up their seats onjuly the 2nd if britain leaves by then. a big win for the brexit party, yeah, which i'm pleased about. nigel farage and his newlyformed brexit party is set to win ahead of the pro—remain liberal democrats. the big story is how the two dominant parties, the conservatives and labour, saw their share of the vote capitulate. between them, they couldn't even secure a quarter of all the votes. there'll be hardly any time before the next bit of business the eu. leaders have been invited to a summit on tuesday to decide who gets the top jobs, including the presidencies of the council and the commission. ramzan karmali, bbc news. the uk wasn't supposed to be taking part in these elections, but divisions over a delayed brexit have deepened and it looks like that may have had an impact at the ballot box. nigel farage's new brexit party,

formed just six weeks ago, has claimed victory in 9 of the 11 regions declared so far, while support for the ruling conservatives and the labour opposition has collapsed. this is what mr farage has had to say so far. the only region of the uk where the brexit party hasn't topped the poll is london, where the liberal democrats have taken three seats. overall, the party has gained 14 meps, quite a contrast to the single seat they won in 2014. britain as divided as ever on its approach to brexit and its attitude towards the european union. the only region of the uk where the brexit party hasn't topped the poll is in london where the liberal democrats have taken three seats stopping overall, the party has gained 14 meps, as i said, in

contrast to the single seat they won in 2014. they are staunchly anti—brexit. layla moran says the results strenghten the case for a second refendum. we went into these elections with a really super clear message, stop brexit, just make it stop. what the vote share shows nationally is where second nationally, but if you add up the remain vote, the people who want a people's vote, put it back to the people, so us last the greens plus the snp and plaid, that is a bigger vote share than the brexit party, and the clear message i think the electorate is sending to westminster is we have to put this back to the people. let's take a closer look at the implications of these results now with our correspondent, naomi grimley. the liberal democrats saying this is clear—cut and a case for a referendum, but it's not that clear, is it? it's not, if you add up the

different wings of british public opinion you seem to end up with a 50-50 opinion you seem to end up with a 50—50 situation. it's hard to know, for example, where labour voters stand, because of course that's a broad church of opinion, likewise the conservative party, but you can add up very much pro—remain wing and the pro—brexit wing and you tend to get about 35% each way. it doesn't really leave britain any further forward in knowing what might happen if there was a second referendum. regular viewers will know about the problems the governing conservative party have been having recently with their leader theresa may particularly, but if you look at the opposition labour party, as you just mentioned, why is it that they have suffered do you think? they've had a contorted position when it comes to brexit. at times they have seams to espouse a second referendum and at

other points seem to have said they respect the results of the original referendum, and that's left voters very confused to be blunt. there is also the problem of a north—south divide for the labour party. in the south it's clearly lost voters to the liberal democrats, who have had as we heard a very blunt pro—remain message, but in the northern constituencies, like wigan, labour lost votes to the brexit party and that's why you get some of the northern labour mps saying don't peter hasty when it comes to suddenly embracing a second memorandum —— don't be too hasty —— referendum. in the last few hours labour front bench spokespeople have said this is a message for a second referendum but they have to persuade their leader? you're probably referring to emily thornbury, who said bluntly on national tv that the party got its message wrong and it

took five minutes to explain on the doorstep what the labour message was. lots of senior figures are fed up was. lots of senior figures are fed up with jeremy corbyn, was. lots of senior figures are fed up withjeremy corbyn, they feel he is too ambiguous on brexit. they've been pushing behind—the—scenes, and we will see in the next few days a more vigorous message from them that they want to see him campaign against brexit and for a second referendum. thank you, naomi. divided labour, divided government and generally divided united kingdom. let's go to italy, where the far—right league party of interior minister matteo salvini won the most votes. its coalition partner the anti—establishment five star movement was beaten by the centre—left democratic party which came second. 2496 24% share. the interesting thing between the league and five star

party, coalition partners in rome, it's the exacting version of the general election last year. a factious campaign in italy and it's likely to cause significant disruption to the governing coalition because of their changing fortunes. let's hear from coalition because of their changing fortunes. let's hearfrom the man coalition because of their changing fortunes. let's hear from the man of the moment in italy, matteo salvini, and hear what he had to say. translation: it is not only the liga that's the first in italy. marine le pen has the first party in france. nigel farage is the first party in britain. so italy, france and great britain. so italy, france and great britain. it is a sign of a europe thatis britain. it is a sign of a europe that is changing, a europe tired of the powers of the elites, finance, multinationals, and from tomorrow we will have to redouble our efforts. let's get more analysis on this. i'm joined now by beniamino pagliaro,

editor at la repubblica newspaper. welcome to bbc news. what do you make of the results coming out of italy? well, matteo salvini is for sure the winner of tonight's race and thejump the league has done from one year is a very exceptional result. as you were saying, the five star movement, the league partner in this government, went very bad. i doubt in the long—term, the end of the year, this government will be able to go on. tonight salvinis was the one saying we will go on. the government will work. he doesn't wa nt to government will work. he doesn't want to be blamed for italy without a government. but this is a political earthquake and it has... it will have consequences very, very

soon, especially when they will have to talk about the next budget. just how divisive was the campaigning in italy between those two coalition partners? it was very divisive. we wrote a lot about how matteo salvini was blaming the five star movement for not running on some fiscal reforms or other issues, while luigi's de mario, the five star movement's leader, was blaming matteo salvini for not doing other things. there we re for not doing other things. there were personal attacks. there were politicians under charge for many reasons, especially in the league. it was a very bloody campaign, and now salvini is saying don't you

worry, we'll work with them, they are friends. but what we know from this night is that salvini was smiling and happily talking to all the press in italy, wilder mario cancelled a presser he had in rome and he didn't talk to anybody. this is the picture of the moment. a sure sign of unhappiness. beyond the italian borders, what do you think this means for matteo salvini? what do you think he will do now with his power beyond italy's borders? well, if i'm not wrong, the numbers say that his group, the league group, will be among the leaves biggest in europe. he's probably going to have some power. i'm not sure the

nationalist movements will have a key role. as we were saying, this election has many, many europeans to vote. the highest turnout in 20 yea rs. vote. the highest turnout in 20 years. the two big parties will have to face this and find new solutions and in this particular area, i'm not sure the populists will be happy to talk with him. angela merkel made it very clear she doesn't want matteo salvini as an ally. he's very powerful now, and he probably could play the opposition again in europe. that will probably boost again his polls, but then not work for italy's

government. it will be very tricky to understand what's the next move, and also many times we don't have long memories, we don't remember things that happened recently. five yea rs things that happened recently. five years ago there was another italian matteo, that time it was metteo renzi, his democrats were up 40% five years ago, exactly five years ago at the european elections, and he is now out of... he is in the senate but he is not leading any more the party. salvini will also also be very careful not to follow that path. 0k, really good to get your analysis. thank you so much for joining us from rome. editor of lower republican newspaper. we were saying earlier it's difficult to

generalise the trends across the eu because it differs country to country, it's as much about what happens in those countries as it does the views towards the european union. and no greater example for that than spain where the socialist party were comfortably the largest party. let's take a look at the results there. the socialist getting 20 seats, the people's party down four on 20 seats, the people's party down fouron 12, 20 seats, the people's party down four on 12, the citizens party on seven, gaining five, and the damas on six —— podemos. translation: a delegation of the socialist party will defend the interests of spain, will defend the interests of spain, will defend the interests of spain, will defend the interests of the social majority in many cities, regions and countries in the european institutions. 0k, let's go to germany now. i think this is one trend we can pull out

which is that it has been a good night for the greens in many countries across europe. we can see their second row, 21 seeds, up ten. very good for them. it's come at the expense of chancellor angela merkel‘s christian democrats, they had their worst ever performance. they are on 29 seeds, losing five, and the social democrats losing 11 seeds, doing particularly poorly was not so back to the greens, ska keller is a german mep and founder of the european green block. she's been speaking to my colleague about why they did so well and what it might mean for politics in europe. we're thankful for the trust that the voters all over europe have put into the green party and it is now for us a big task and responsibility to put our demands into practice when it comes to climate protection

but also when it comes to making sure the european union becomes a social union. those two big blocks are going to want to talk to you because they may need you to have a majority, what would you like in return for voting with them on occasions. for us it is clear. we other greens and we want to put green policies into place. we want to vote for policies of climate protection, we want to make sure we create a social europe with social protection for everyone, social rights for everyone and we want to make sure the rule of law and civil liberties are protected everywhere in the european union. including hungry, so we are going to vote for green policies. the council and the commission, do you believe from your opposition within the parliament that you can bring change? yes, with

the council and the member states we are together doing the legislation so no—one can decide anything without the european parliament that we have a strong voice is parliament. and we have a very strong voice for climate protection, for biodiversity protection and we are going to use the voice. ska keller of the greens speaking to my colleague earlier. it was also a good note for populist and nationalist parties, we spoke about matteo salvini but also marine le pen, france's far right national rally leader, she finished ahead of president macron's party. she lost out to him in 2017, now she is calling for the head of state to dissolve the parliament and call new elections. unsurprisingly, that proposal was immediately rejected by the government. let's listen to miss marine le pen speaking earlier.|j see in this a victory of the people

who have taken power back tonight with fierceness and dignity. we welcome these results with joy and the national rally‘s name has never been more fitting. whether you voted with your hearts or your reason, be assured that a vote for the national rally is a vote for france and for the people. so, as you might have seen as we've gone country by country across the 28 nations, some really quite interesting result. and we've looked at the big powerhouses of course, france, germany and the uk and the rise of the right, populist and nationalists in the uk and italy, let's try now to make sense of it all if we can to see the bigger picture, the bigger trends if there are any. earlier i spoke to our brussel correspondence russell fleming. what has happened in the european parliament tonight is the stranglehold, the big centre—left and centre—right political groups here have had on the business of the

european parliament for decades and decades and decades have disappeared. it swing them, the ce ntre—left disappeared. it swing them, the centre—left in the centre right across europe do not have enough seats in the european parliament to control the agenda and to guarantee that legislation will get through. to do that they will have to rely on support from the greens and from the much larger liberal group as well which now includes emmanuel macron's mps and lots of extra green meps elected tonight in germany in what some are calling the greenways. the next couple of days will be intriguing to see whether those big four will form a group to work together. without involve a coalition agreement or a roadmap to the next five years? but then as soon as possible building a roadmap for the direction of the eu, they are going to come in conflict with eu leaders, chancellors and presidents of the member states who will see that as a power grab. and

unfolding in brussels in coming days kickstarting the process for appointing those top jobs. a kickstarting the process for appointing those topjobs. a new presidents of the european commission, a new foreign—policy cheat because those appointments are meant to reflect the results of the european parliament elections —— foreign—policy chief. european parliament elections —— foreign—policy chieflj european parliament elections —— foreign-policy chief. i think i can fairly summarise that as lots to do and lots of uncertainty than, adam. let's drill down a bit into it, the leader of the european people's party said earlier that there is now a shrinking centre. if the messages being sent to brussels, do you think it's a message that they will respond to —— if a message is. it's a message that they will respond to -- if a message is. they don't have a lot of choice. if you look at how the seats are carved out in parliament, the majority they will have now will be made out of the centre—right, the centre—left,

liberals and greens, they are all broadly on the same page when it comes to being pro— european. though you do get some people who are much more in favour of europe and some who are more in favour of being pragmatic. i think if you voted for someone who is protesting, one who doesn't want more europe or who is very anti— european project, because i think -- very anti— european project, because i think —— very and to be in —— anti— european project, i think you will be disappointed. the popular store nationalist surge, the labels are confusing are not particularly accurate, has not really materialised —— populist. yes, matteo salvini and marine le pen parties came first, but they did just as well as they did last time. in other countries like denmark the populists and anti—eu parties did not do very well. so i think, maybe if you are looking at the rise of

populism, were not really looking at a rise, just a net result that was about the same as last time in 2014. i think that's one of the big surprises tonight. the populists tingled out the opponents of the eu are not going to be marching into the european parliament with flaming torches deterrent down because they just haven't done as well as some people thought. that was adam fleming in brussels. let mejust if you a reminder of our top story. with those those counted in the european parliamentary elections, the previously dominant centre—left and centre—right blocks have lost ground to smaller parties. some far right groups and the greens have made gains. voter turnout was the highest in 25 years, up to 51% from 42.6 ascent five years ago. the highest in 25 years as a just mention's 42.6%. so the parliament will be more fragmented which will

make its task of saving eu legislation that more difficult. lots of power plays and horse trading in the coming days and weeks and we have more coverage injust a moment. hello. it wouldn't be a bank holiday weekend without some rain around. unfortunately, those of us who need it most have actually seen very little and sussex was one of the counties which avoided most of the showers on sunday. by contrast, we've had a lot of rain across parts of scotland, particularly highland and aberdeenshire as much as 30 millimetres, well over an inch, injust 24 hours. now this frontal system lingers as we go into bank holiday monday across scotland. that's going to keep further rain going across chiefly across the central belt, southern scotland, down into parts of the far north of england and northern ireland. elsewhere, it's a day of sunny spells and scattered showers. but the showers most frequent across north—west and south—west england and wales.

a brisk west or north—westerly wind will push them a little bit further into the midlands, some southern counties of england, but fewer showers across east anglia and south—east england. more on the way of sunshine here so that means higher temperatures, 18 or 19 celsius. mid to high teens for most butjust 9—10 celsius for the far north of scotland. and we'll keep some showers going through the evening, they will tend to fade but some showery rain reforming across northern ireland, parts of wales, eastern scotland. elsewhere, a mixture of variable cloud and clear spells. but it will be a cooler night compared to the nights had through the bank holiday weekend. so on into tuesday, we've still got this little frontal system diving its way southwards, still generating showers. the winds will be lighter but they are coming from the north or the north—west so the cool air that we've been seeing across scotland will start to dig its way a little bit further southwards. a cool start to tuesday for many. there'll be some bright or sunny spells, but on tuesday quite a few showers developing across central and eastern areas. the best chance for east anglia and south—east england to see some

decent rain will be from the showers, but they are going to be somewhat hit—and—miss. few showers further west, the best of the sunshine here, temperatures for most in the mid—teens, maybe 17 or 18 celsius across southern england where we get any sunshine. into wednesday, we've got this area of high pressure building from the south—west, so that's going to kill off most of the showers across england and wales. it should be a dry and fine day here, still some showers to talk about, chiefly across northern ireland and the western side of scotland. after a sunny start for much of the uk, the cloud will build. but for much of england, wales and southern scotland it should be mainly dry. temperatures typically again in the mid—teens, 17 or 18 celsius further south. so to sum up the week ahead, it's going to be cooler for a time. there will be some rain, but for those who need it most there may not be very much. bye— bye.

welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers in north america and around the globe. i'm duncan golestani. our top stories — centrist parties are the big losers in the european elections, with the highest voter turnout in 20 years. smaller parties make big gains — in germany, the greens become the second largest party and the far—right comes fourth. translation: we haven't been dynamic, we have to concede that during our time in government, we have not given the decisive answers that the people in germany expect of us. in france, the far—right national rally led by marine le pen came just ahead of the en marche party of president emmanuel macron.