It seems that voter turnout could be high in Wakefield, according to the BBC reporter at the count.

Image source, PA Media

Kevin Larkin, BBC Radio Leeds' political reporter says he's been told of "very full ballot boxes" and "huge amount of postal votes".

Three constituencies will be counted in Wakefield tonight - Wakefield, Hemsworth and Normanton, Ponefract and Castleford - and it could be at the centre of some tight battles.

Liz Roberts
Political Reporter, BBC Radio Sheffield

The interesting thing about the election in the South Yorkshire this year is that it could be, well, interesting.

It's not usually an area that attracts much media attention.

When Nick Clegg (pictured below) lost his Lib Dem seat in Sheffield Hallam to Labour in 2017 it was the biggest shake-up to the electoral landscape for two decades - when the Lib Dems first won the seat from the Tories in 1997.

But, this year it's different.

Image source, Getty Images

Labour's been losing its grip on its traditional heartlands.

In Penistone and Stocksbridge, where the MP Angela Smith jumped to Change UK and then the Lib Dems, the Tories are now ready to pounce.

In the former mining areas of Rother Valley and Don Valley, which voted overwhelmingly for Brexit, Labour’s once huge majority is now reduced to a few thousand.

The unthinkable has started to happen, ex-miners and lifelong Labour supporters have been prepared to put their cross in a Conservative box.

But there's now a new(ish) kid on the block - The Brexit Party with Nigel Farage at the helm.

Seen as a straight-talking man of the people, he’s popular among South Yorkshire’s working classes and his party is seen, by many, as a more palatable alternative to the Tories.

So the critical question is: where will the Brexit voters turn? Will the Farage effect be enough to gain seats in places like Barnsley? Or could it split the vote, and actually do Labour a favour?

The first results of the night are in nationally.

Image source, PA Media

Newcastle Central was the first to declare at 23.27 with Houghton and Sunderland Central two minutes later at 23.29. Both constituencies were held by Labour.

The first Conservative gain of the night came three minutes later in Blyth Valley, with Tory candidate Ian Levy taking the seat from Labour by 712 votes.

We're expecting results in Yorkshire from about 02:00 onwards.

Don Valley candidate Caroline Flint has apologised to Labour voters saying she's sorry "we couldn't offer you a Labour Party you could trust".

The Labour candidate, who was first elected in 1997, could lose her seat according to the latest exit poll forecast.

It's predicted that there is a 96% chance the Conservative candidate Nick Fletcher will take the seat on what is thought to be a good night for the Conservatives nationally.

Lib Dem candidate for Beverley& Holderness Dennis Healy has told the BBC he believes success for his party could prevent a Conservative majority:

Kevin Larkin
Political reporter, BBC Radio Leeds

West Yorkshire is normally full of closely fought contests and this election is no exception.

The seats along the M62 corridor have often proved to be important in shaping governments in past elections and in 2019 watch out for places like Colne Valley, Dewsbury and Wakefield to get a flavour of which way the political wind is blowing.

If the election is the Brexit election, as the Conservatives hope it will be, then what will happen to two of the prime movers in efforts to prevent a no deal Brexit in their West Yorkshire seats - Hilary Benn in Leeds Central and Yvette Cooper in Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford.

But the NHS is likely to play a key role, especially after the story about the four-year-old boy pictured lying on coats in the Leeds General Infirmary A&E made national headlines.

Labour will be hoping that those problems at the LGI can help them in Leeds marginals like Pudsey and Morley & Outwood, where Conservative candidates Stuart Andrew and Andrea Jenkyns are defending slim majorities.

Meanwhile, The Lib Dems will be hoping they can win back Leeds North West with their strident opposition to Brexit, while the Greens will be hoping concern about the climate emergency declared by all West Yorkshire councils can help them win support.

The Yorkshire Party is hoping it can capitalise on the North/South divide as well as a good dose of Yorkshire pride.

One way or another, the election battle in West Yorkshire will be a key part of the national story.

Sheffield South East Labour candidate Clive Betts says it's been a touch campaign in the seat.

The Conservatives are forecast to have a majority in Parliament, according to an exit poll published as voting in the 2019 general election ends.

The exit poll, carried out by Ipsos MORI for the BBC, ITV News and Sky News, suggests the Tories may win 368 seats and Labour 191.

The SNP is forecast to win 55 seats, the Liberal Democrats 13, Plaid Cymru three and the Green Party one. The Brexit Party is not forecast to win any seats,

Follow the link here and enter your postcode to find out what the exit poll currently forecasts for your constituency.

This may change as results come in and the forecast is updated

Tracy Gee
Reporter, BBC Yorkshire

I assume the slides at the Metrodome pool in Barnsley have been switched off.

Let's hope so, we don't want these papers heading off down the flumes!

Kevin Larkin
Political reporter, BBC Radio Leeds

Radio Leeds's Political Reporter Kevin Larkin with the rumours from the count.

Corinne Wheatley
BBC Look North

Tracy Gee
Reporter, BBC Radio Leeds

James Vincent
Political Editor BBC Look North

On the walk through Leeds city centre on the way to the Leeds count I kind of felt like I was going in the wrong direction.

The massive groups of people in their Christmas jumpers weren’t thinking about the election.

The general election fills a very niche spot on the Leeds First Direct Arena Christmas schedule; sandwiched between a Rod Stewart concert and ‘We Love the Nineties’.

Yorkshire has not had the campaign we expected it to.

No big appearances and rallies, fleeting interviews with leaders on the last day of the push for votes.

It was almost like some of the parties didn’t want their leaders to face local people or local scrutiny.

We’re now just a few hours from finding out whether that will wash with Yorkshire.

What do the counts actually look like before thousands of ballot papers are poured on to tables?

Pretty much like this - it's Harrogate at the top and Barnsley below.

Good luck to the people counting the ballots - may you be fleet of finger!

The ballot papers have been collected, they're transported to a local lesiure centre or civic building... but what happens next?

Image source, Getty Images

Find out out what the people sitting in rows under bright strip lights in schools, town halls and sports centres are up to and how the night will work for them here.

What is the exit poll?

The exit poll is a survey of thousands of voters just after they have cast their ballot. It covers England, Scotland and Wales but not Northern Ireland, where a different set of parties dominate politics.

Image source, IPSOS MORI

How does it work?

The exit poll is based on 144 constituencies in England, Scotland and Wales. The constituencies are chosen to be demographically representative of the country, balanced between rural and urban seats, and weighted slightly in favour of marginal areas.

Exit pollsters base themselves at a selected polling station in a chosen constituency. Voters emerging from the polling station are waylaid at regular intervals - every 10th voter, for example - by these fieldworkers, employed by polling specialists Ipsos Mori. They are given a replica ballot paper and asked to fill it in without anyone watching. They then drop the replica paper into a box that will be opened later.

Are they accurate?

It has been becoming more accurate as the methodology improves. The rough rule of thumb is an exit poll that comes within 15 seats of the final outcome is considered accurate, Prof Fisher says.

The 2015 exit poll was more accurate than the opinion polls during the campaign but did not predict a Conservative majority.

In 2017, the first take of the exit poll correctly predicted the Conservatives would be the largest party,, externalbut stopped short of saying there would be a hung Parliament.

Find out moreabout the exit poll here.

The Conservatives are set to win an overall majority of 86 in the general election, according to an exit poll for the BBC, ITV and Sky News.

The survey taken at UK polling stations suggests the Tories will get 368 MPs - 50 more than at the 2017 election - when all the results have been counted.

Labour would get 191, the Lib Dems 13, the Brexit Party none and the SNP 55.

The Green Party will still have one MP and Plaid Cymru will lose one seat for a total of three, the survey suggests.

The first general election results are due before midnight, with the final total expected to be known by Friday lunchtime.

Read more here.