this is bbc news, i'm lukwesa burak. the headlines at 11:00pm: nigel farage says he is ready to fight a general election, after his new brexit party secured nearly a third of the vote, and 29 meps. if we don't leave on 31 october, dare i say, we could produce a result in the next general election that will suffer. but it was also a great night for the liberal democrats. they say it gives hope to all people who want to stop brexit. it was the worst ever result for the conservatives. they came in fifth place, giving new urgency to the search for a new leader. and labour is also nursing heavy losses. the leadership is now under intense pressure to back a new brexit referendum.

we will bring you all the results, and the picture across europe, where turnout is up and the traditional parties have lost out to smaller ones. and at all 11:30pm, we will be analysing how those results have been interpreted in the papers, with our reviewers, james rampton and laura hughes. and it's going to go in! in the play—off final, aston villa have beaten derby to win a very lucrative place in the premiership next season. good evening. the european elections have delivered punishing defeats for both conservatives and labour. in a night of remarkable results,

the brexit party led by nigel farage and the liberal democrats, who want to stop brexit, took full advantage of the deep disaffection among voters throughout britain. the foreign secretary, jeremy hunt, said the very existence of the conservative party was under threat unless it delievered brexit, and labour'sjeremy corbyn is now under intense pressure to back another referendum. let's look at the numbers in more detail. the brexit party won over 31% share of the vote, just a few months after being formed. it wasn't around in 2014. the liberal democrats took 20% of the vote, up 13% points. both labour and the conservatives had a gruelling time, and ukip‘s share of the vote collapsed from five years ago. in terms of seats, the brexit party has 29 meps, the liberal democrats 16, labour ten, and the conservatives just four. the greens made some significant gains, while ukip lost

all its seats. our political editor laura kuenssberg has more. to the winner, the spoils. it was his victory. nigel farage‘s brexit party, maybe the brashest and the boldest, were the biggest last night. once you've delivered brexit... demanding we leave the eu as soon as is humanly possible. are you worried about the divisions that we saw in the voters last night? you may not like the result of the election, but in the democratic society, you respect that and you live to fight another day. what we've had since the referendum is a lack of losers‘ consent from some very significant people in british public life.

but parties with precisely the opposite message were winners, too. the lib dems want to stop brexit, and were the next biggest party. the country's results a contradiction. we're clearly now a major nationalforce again, and our next big task is to work with other people, and other parties who are like—minded, initially to stop britain crashing out of the european union by accident. # bye—bye, eu... it is the smaller groups with reasons to be cheerful, celebrating however they saw fit. # time to say goodbye... just as in 2014, when ukip topped the poll, nigel farage‘s eurosceptic group hoovered up, cock—a—hoop, cocky enough to boo a labour candidate on stage, and to cause major misery to the tories, who had

a historically awful performance. for the party hunting for a new leader and new prime minister, many mps think the search should be for who can stop the brexit party. i'm deeply saddened by the fact that so many candidates and so many activists worked so hard, and we didn't get the result that we wanted. and one message is clear from these results. we absolutely need to deliver brexit. they won't be short of candidates. the home secretary, sajid javid, joined the race today. how would you deal with the brexit party? but the tories might be short of a way to get brexit done. bottles were cracked open for parties who want to stop it altogether, instead of leaving now. the lib dems gobbled votes up in towns and cities. so, too, the greens. providing a home for those who want to stay in the eu, turned off perhaps by westminster‘s strife. this country is split in half.

let's have a proper discussion... and labour went backwards, trying to keep its two natural territories together. for months, many party members have been unhappy at the plan to hold a eu referendum. only if there isn't a general election. is it clear? you judge. the responsibility to listen to what everyone has to say, and ensure that there is an agreement made, and that is then put to a public vote. even his closest labour colleagues, though, are tiptoeing towards clearer backing for another vote. well, of course we want a general election. but realistically, after last night, there aren't many tory mps that are going to vote for a general election. it would be like turkeys voting for christmas. so our best way of doing that, i think, is going back to the people in a referendum, and i think that's what our members want. the snp were rewarded for a clear position in scotland to try to stop brexit. labour pushed to fifth place, unimaginable a few years ago.

what we saw in these elections was yet another emphatic rejection by the people of scotland of brexit. the message from scotland couldn't be clearer. we don't want brexit. we want to stay at the heart of europe. in wales, plaid cymru, who want another vote on europe, beat labour too. in northern ireland, the cross—community alliance party, that also opposes brexit, won a seat for the first time. but the party that was set up just to push for another referendum didn't get far. change uk won't be changing much any time soon. but how far could he go? certainly never short on ambition. this melee might not last. remember, european elections don't necessarily translate into what happens at the next general election. but the success of parties with a clear message on brexit is enough to give the tories and labour a lot to worry about. nigel farage and the other smaller parties have humiliated the established groups,

perplexed by brexit. voters rewarding politicians who have been willing to pick a side. laura kuenssberg, bbc news, westminster. turnout in the elections was just below 37%. that is the second—highest in any european election in the uk. our deputy political editor john pienaar has been analysing the results. well, depending on where you stand, these elections were mostly about who wants brexit, and on the other side, who would sooner remain, or at least get another the referendum. the results were every bit as dramatic as everyone expected, only more. just look at how things changed. this was how it looked before, based on what happened in 2014. ukip ruling the roost, a big signpost of eurosceptic things to come, well before the referendum. but the two big parties still in there, slugging it out. and now look — a higher turnout and nigel farage‘s brexit party swept in and swept up

voters, sick and tired. they're still waiting for brexit, three years on. the conservatives hammered, tory support crashed through the floor. labour sank, too. jeremy corbyn's grand strategy of trying to please the remainers past and present, most of his members and mps, in other words, and leavers fell flat. ukip minus nigel farage just evaporated. and lib dems hearts are singing — who'd have thought it? they sucked in remain—side votes, mostly labour supporters by the look of it, in the same way that nigel farage‘s party plundered the votes of brexit britain. now the country looks dug in for what could become a kind of trench political warfare. the brexit party didn'tjust win, in seats and votes. they came top everywhere except the remain—side bastions of london and scotland. they didn't stand in northern ireland. there, the alliance party sprung a surprise by winning a seat. the liberal democrats were the other big winners, coming second overall. labour knocked off its perch in london, including jeremy corbyn's islington constituency, by the way, just as the brexit party won

in theresa may's seat in maidenhead. and we saw, again, younger voters and graduates more likely to vote with remain—side parties. the lib dems, the greens, who had a good election too, and change uk, who had a bad one. older voters generally lean strongly towards brexit. in scotland, the snp ended up happy. and here too, and in wales, labour is licking its wounds. will the crisis put more strain on the union? very likely yes. is the country deadlocked and divided? you bet it is — by region, by nation, by generation. families and friendships split in a way we've never really seen before. what now? big two—party politics may be shakier than ever. the tories' next leader, and all of our next prime minister will have to deal with intense pressure to deliver brexit with or without a deal, or convince the party members who will elect him or her it's time to compromise. jeremy corbyn is being pressed hard to get off the fence, as his labour critics see it,

and back a new referendum quickly, no ifs, no buts. no—one can call another referendum based on these results, still less a general election, but we mayjust end up with either, or both. you want certainty? not in britain, i'm afraid, not now. we can speak to our political correspondent chris mason, who is in westminsterfor us. so chris, you know, the impact from talking about this on the parties? this is the thunderbolt that has pulverised the two big political parties, because both of them to a greater or lesser extent have been advocating a kind of form of compromise, recognising the nature of the split in the referendum, 52-48, of the split in the referendum, 52—48, three years ago, and articulating in various guises the idea of leaving the european union with a deal. but these are results where those purists, if you like, on either extent of the argument, those in the brexit party advocating an immediate, as soon as possible

withdrawal from the european immediate, as soon as possible withdrawalfrom the european union, and being comfortable with the idea of leaving without a deal, on the one hand doing spectacularly well, and on the other parties that hate brexit and would rather stop it right now and certainly have another referendum to allow people to choose again, doing very well as well. the conservatives who under theresa may have been advocating this deal that has been flunked so many times in parliament, labour articulating an alternative vision for leaving the european union, also suffering. and what were now going to see on both sides, we seeing it in labour already, and we're seeing it as well with the conservatives, is the of these elections forcing very difficult conversations about the road to pursue. a huge amount of pressure onjeremy corbyn to fully endorse the idea of another referendum. a lot of pressure on the conservative contenders to take over from theresa may to be crystal—clear about their outlook on a no deal brexit. yes, and how is that leadership contest going, chris? 50 leadership contest going, chris? so tomorrow morning jeremy hunt has an

article in the daily telegraph, the foreign secretary, addressing specifically this issue of a no deal brexit, suggesting that if the conservatives were to attempt a general election before brexit was delivered, they would be annihilated, they would face extinction. he then says, and this shows how tricky it is for contenders to try and straddle both horses, i have always believed that no deal is better than no brexit, but he then says that if the prime minister was to pursue a no deal brexit, parliament would do whatever it could to stop it. now, there is the direct mechanism stopping it, but one way would be to bring the whole government down. even the chancellor, philip hammond, entertained the idea of potentially being involved in that kind of thing if it came to it. and if parliament tried to bring the government down, the result of that would be a general election, and he says trying to deliver no deal through a general election is not a solution. it is

political suicide. so he is arguing instead going back to the eu, trying to get a better deal, trying to get parliament without a general election to endorse it. also tomorrow morning, kit malthouse, conservative mp, the guy who was behind the so—called malthouse compromise, and attempt a few months ago to try and unblock the brexit impasse, he has thrown his name into the ring as well. so there is no shortage of contenders, with another two months of this to go. thank you. the brexit party's success was exemplified by its showing in the west midlands, where the party took nearly 40% of the vote and will now have three meps in the region, while labour, the conservatives, greens and liberal democrats each have one. our political correspondent alex forsyth has been to warwickshire to speak to a range of voters in the county. £20, or nearest offer. they're 50p each, or three for £1. it seems some people feel a bit short—changed right now. there was plenty of brexit anger on offer near stratford

earlier this morning. i get a bit frustrated, and i despair at them. chris and ron are traditional tory voters who turned to the brexit party in protest this time round. it was a vote that said, do it, whatever it is. and what is it for you? for us i think it is leave the eu. this one's quite cute. across the region, conservative support plummeted. here, most people voted to leave. boot sale organiser bill usually backs the tories, but he's lost patience. i think the people voting for brexit will make them all set up and think, well, we've got to do something. and there is a deadline, and i think they've just got to meet that deadline now. they already passed one, and it was an insult to the normal voter. with its industrial towns and cities, it's notjust the tories in the west midlands who suffered. mark was once a committed

labour supporter, but now? because of the shambles what the conservatives have been up to in parliament and the labour party, i voted for the brexit party. he doesn't buy the warnings about leaving without a deal. i just think that's scaremongering. i really do think it's scaremongering. and he is not the only one. the brexit party's brilliant. nigel, come on! frustrated brexiteers aren't the only ones up in arms. at a jousting event at nearby warwick castle, plenty were still fighting for remain. i think i would like to see another referendum, because i think the last referendum was based on some mistruths. i know i didn't want to vote for a party that definitely represented brexit. warwick has been a stronghold of remain in this leave county. here there was a surge in support for pro—eu parties. willis a labour voter who turned to the lib dems. what do you think of labour's

position on brexit? it's very wishy—washy at the moment. ithink, i mean, i'm a big corbyn supporter at core, but i just don't think they've covered themselves in glory, and i think a lot of people would have done what i've done which is a reactionary vote against labour and the tories as welljust to give them a bit of a nudge and say, you might be the big two, but there are other viable options out there. for some, there is little hope anyone can find a solution. because of the amount of people who want things different, it's very much torn. it is impossible for anybody. opposing views in this heated debate are, it seems, still entrenched. the time for war is over. but the political battle goes on. alex forsyth, bbc news, warwickshire. with the picture across the uk, we will hear from our political editor in wales and political correspondant in northern ireland. but first to glasgow, where our scotland editor sarah smith explained how the ruling snp put in a very strong performance. the snp ran and unambiguously pro—eu

campaign and it was a bit of a gamble because many of their natural supporters are also leavers but it paid off and one half of the six meps in scotland. coming into second place, the exit party so that it shows you this is not a unanimously pro eu country. labour were the big losers, kicked into a humiliating fifth place and lost both of their meps in part because the snb asked all meps in part because the snb asked a ll vote rs meps in part because the snb asked all voters to land the votes to sand all voters to land the votes to sand a strong message. it also means they cannot say the vote shows a surge in support for independent yet another referendum will be proposed into the

scottish parliament on wednesday. referendum will be proposed into the scottish parliament on wednesdaym wales, the brexit party topped the poll by a long way, taking to of the available seats. they came third into the pile, never in 100 years has labour performed so badly in a welsh election. party sources pointing the finger at the uk leadership and the ambivalence over the racks that policy. the brexit leader ignored the calls within welsh labour to come out and call for another referendum. he has done that today. in second place, the challenge for the nomination is to go forward with momentum. the political mould in wales has been cracked as it fought the future on whether or not it has been shattered we will have to see. after 40 years

of european elections in northern ireland been dominated by the so—called orange and green divide between unionists and nationalist parties, today, for the very first time, alliance party, across community party, aligned to either side took one of the three seeds for northern ireland. the other two seats were retained as expected by the dup and sinn fein but it was a big win for the alliance party that is the story of the party and it has been seen as a marker for a new emerging centre ground in a changing northern ireland. that win came at the expense of the unionist party, losing a seat they held since the 19705. but losing a seat they held since the 1970s. but the alliance party success 1970s. but the alliance party success is a marker of the anti— brexit vote in northern ireland because they campaigned clearly for

remain and fora because they campaigned clearly for remain and for a second referendum. across the european union, many of the traditional parties suffered major losses, while nationalists were notably successful in italy and france. in the last elections in 2014, the european parliament's main centre—left group the socialists and democrats and the main centre—right group the european people's party, secured more than 50% of the seats. support for those traditional parties has shrunk, they now only have 43% of the seats. that's been caused by a surge in support for the liberals, greens and right—leaning conservatives, as well as right—wing nationalist parties. our europe editor katya adler has this report(tx much about this european election is not what it first may seem. nationalist marine le pen beat president macron to top the polls in france.

"this is a people's victory," said the delighted mrs le pen. "the people have taken power back into their own hands." but the people, aka europe's voters, didn't support mrs le pen's political allies as much as she had hoped across the eu. millions of europeans cast a vote for change, but not all looked for answers in the far right. the pro—european greens did phenomenally well, as did europe's liberals. we are witnessing a polarised society, so now we are going to use the leverage the citizens gave us to try and enact change at european level, reducing social inequality, reducing our ecological footprint, improving public health. we will see whether the others are prepared for that. seemingly unprepared for this new fragmented political order are the eu's traditional power blocs, the centre—left and the centre—right. germany's government

was given a very bloody nose. like in the uk, europe's voters are favouring political movements they believe better reflect their priorities. there are questions today as to how long angela merkel can or should stay in office. and all this could well affect the brexit process. the woes of angela merkel, the far right breathing down the neck again of emmanuel macron, looming general elections in a number of eu countries — all of this distracts eu leaders and makes them that much more unlikely to reopen and renegotiate the brexit deal if they are asked to do so, by the next uk prime minister. the attitude here anyway is that there is no better alternative. and how does the eu feel about 73 uk meps returning to the european parliament? it will be interesting to see how long they will actually be active in the european parliament.

emmanuel macron has said he's worried a reluctant uk still in the eu could cause internal trouble, are you worried about that? prime minister may was really clear that she said the uk would play a constructive role until the 31st... she's going. well, she's going, exactly. we will have to wait and see what this means for the next prime minister. eu leaders, including theresa may, meet here tomorrow to discuss the what next after the european elections. our prime minister may feel a bit out of place. for the rest, the horse trading as to which political groups now get the eu's top jobs, like president of the european commission, is only just starting. and you can find more information on the european elections on our website. let's take a look at some of today's other news: a woman has appeared in court in sheffield, charged with murdering two of her children. sarah barrass, who is 34, is accused of killing

14 year—old blake barrass and 13—year—old tristan barrass. she appeared before magistrates alongside 37—year—old brandon machin, who also faces two counts of murder. they were remanded in custody and are due to appear at sheffield crown court tomorrow. newcastle united owner mike ashley is in talks to sell the club to dubai based billionaire sheikh khaled in a deal reported to be worth £350 million. ashley, who bought the club in 2007, put it up for sale in 2017. the us president donald trump has been the first foreign leader to meetjapan's new emperor. president trump met emperor naruhito and empress masako at the imperial palace in tokyo. it's part of his four—day state visit to japan. now it's time for the weather with darren. by by the end of the week it will feel

much, much warmer across many parts of the country. we started the week bank holiday monday with cooler, fresher air, sunshine and a few heavy showers. this is where we will find warmer and coming up from their mid atlantic later in the week. at the moment cooler, fresher air coming down from iceland bringing more showers overnight and into tuesday. the bulk of the showers on tuesday. the bulk of the showers on tuesday will be across the eastern side of the uk stop in the afternoon mainly eastern parts of england. further west, much drier and more into the way of sunshine and reasonable temperatures across south wales stop a chilly feel down the eastern side where we keep those showers through the day. they showers through the day. they showers will then killed off during the evening as we get this brief ridge of high pressure and then we start to see this atlantic air coming in. at the moment disc containing a lot of cloud and will bring some rain on those weather

fronts so temperatures not rising just yet. a bright start for the eastern side of the uk but with cloud over from the waist and rain coming in, most of it across north wales, northern england and southern scotland. not much rain in the south—east. colder air across northern scotland. some sunshine and showers. once the weather front arrive across the uk, they will stick around for a while. we lose any progression from the atlantic. one pulse of rain heading towards scandinavia and another coming back into northern ireland, over the irish sea and into northern england and southern scotland. colder air across northern scotland. temperatures are just about making double figures. starting to warm up in wales as the cloud breaks up a little bit more and the process will continue as we head towards the end of the week. the weather front moving further north, allowing more

airto come in. moving further north, allowing more air to come in. we need to break up the cloud to realise some decent temperatures and a lot of cloud for northern ireland, rain coming back into scotland, moving away to northern england so perhaps temperatures rising to the east of the pennines. the real warmth to the south—east of england with temperatures easily into the low 20s. those temperatures continuing to rise towards the end of the week. the weather front is still there, stuck across western parts of the uk, ahead of it we are drawing in that warmth. further out the arena showers into northern ireland, up into scotland and most of england and wales should be dry with more in the way of sunshine. temperatures continued to rise across the board in england and wales, looking at the mid 20s in the south east. a different story for scotland and northern ireland even though it is warming upa northern ireland even though it is warming up a touch. the heat lapsing

into saturday but sunday and monday the heat pushes away into the continent and we open up the door for atlantic but this is much more u nsettled, for atlantic but this is much more unsettled, changeable. we have the jetstrea m unsettled, changeable. we have the jetstream strengthening and slamming right into the uk pushing showers and longer spells of rain across the uk, particularly during the middle pa rt uk, particularly during the middle part of the week. warming for a while and then unsettled.

hello, this is bbc news. we will be taking a look at tomorrow morning's papers in a moment. first the headlines: nigel farage says he is ready to fight a general election,