Still time to vote, but not long!

The leaders waiting anxiously for the results got out early this morning to cast their ballots...

There's a long night ahead of us, but here's what to look out for if you're staying up for the results.

If a party wins in 326 constituencies - that's just over half the number of seats in the House of Commons - it will have gained a majority.

In practice, slightly fewer seats are needed. That's because the Speaker of the House (currently Sir Lindsay Hoyle) remains neutral, and Sinn Fein MPs have a long-standing tradition of not taking their seats.

If a party has a majority, the leader of that party will head to Buckingham Palace to ask the Queen's permission to form a new government on Friday.

But first, the results...

The buzz is building and the results map is out in the BBC plaza.

Not long to go now...

It may have been a bit blustery out today, but it hasn't stopped pooches from across the country getting to their polling stations.

We look at some of the best here, but look forward to seeing some more wrapped up warm in the final hour!

Image source, @alfiethepug_

Image source, PA Media

There's just an hour left to cast your vote if you're planning on heading to a polling station tonight.

The polls will close at 22:00 GMT. But if you find yourself in the queue when they do, you are guaranteed the opportunity to vote., external

The first results usually come in about an hour after the close of the polls at 22:00 GMT. The rest of the results are declared throughout the night and into the next day. Most counts will be completed by 06:00 GMT.

The BBC News website will feature a full breakdown of the results across the UK as they come in - via an interactive map and postcode search.

You can also follow the latest developments in your own constituency on BBC live pages and scoreboards.

Keep an eye on the @BBCElection , externalTwitter account, which will tweet out every constituency result.

On TV, the BBC's Election 2019 results programme will be hosted by Huw Edwards on BBC One, the BBC News Channel, and BBC iPlayer. The programme begins at 21:55 GMT and runs until 09:00 GMT.

Over on BBC Radio 4, James Naughtie and Emma Barnett will present coverage from 21:45 GMT.

Image source, PA

Forty-eight people were given the wrong ballot papers and will have to re-cast their votes in the general election, a council has admitted.

The mix-up happened at a polling station in Mossley Hill, Liverpool, which serves two constituencies.

Ballot papers for Wavertree constituency were mistakenly issued to Riverside residents.

The incorrect votes will be discounted and a review has been ordered, Liverpool City Council said.

The authority said it was making efforts to contact those involved to give them the opportunity to vote for a second time before polls close at 22:00 GMT.

Read the full story here.

Adam Fleming
Electioncast presenter

22:00 This is the first big moment. This is when you get the exit poll, published by the BBC and other broadcasters. It should give a pretty good prediction of how things might go - it's been pretty accurate in previous years.

23:00 That's when you see the sixth-formers in their trainers carrying the ballot boxes as Sunderland and Newcastle seats go head-to-head to try to be the one to declare the first result of the night.

01:00 I'm told this is a good time to go to sleep because it'll be quite quiet. Although how we will, I don't know, so let's assume we stay up.

02:00 We'll probably have had about 100 results by this point, but that'll give us a really good picture. And in that time we'll have some really bellwether seats like Dartford, Loughbough, and Nuneaton.

03:00 Some seats associated with very familiar household names will probably be announcing around this point.

04:00 Things will be starting to slow down a bit by this point.

05:00 There'll be some more declaring from outer London, including Chipping Barnet.

06:00 We'll have had nearly everything by this point. But of course, coverage will continue.

If a party wins in 326 constituencies - that's just over half the number of seats in the House of Commons - it will have gained a majority.

If none of the parties commands a majority, we'll be faced with a hung parliament.

Impatient as we all are, we'll just have to wait and see.

Image source, Ipsos Mori

As soon as voting closes at 22:00 tonight, we'll have the first indication of the general election result, known as the exit poll.

The exit poll is a survey of thousands of voters just after they have cast their ballot. It covers 144 constituencies in England, Scotland and Wales - but not Northern Ireland, where a different set of parties dominate politics.

On election day, 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're given a replica ballot paper and asked to fill it in without anyone watching, before dropping the replica paper into a box that will be opened later.

The results are then analysed by a team of experts at a secret location in London.

The exit poll will be released at 22:00 - and of course we'll bring it to you here on the live page.

Read more about the exit poll here.

We're all gearing up here at BBC News to report tonight's result - the snacks are out and the coffee is in.

Like other broadcasters, we're not allowed to report details of campaigning or election issues while the polls are open.

As soon as they close at 22:00 however, we'll be bringing you the exit poll here here on the live page, as well as on TV and radio.

The exit poll will be also projected onto the side of Broadcasting House in central London.

And throughout the night we'll be updating the electoral map we've set up just outside the newsroom:

(And, in case you were wondering, that's the result of 2017's election.)

Image source, Getty Images

The clock is ticking and there are only 2.5 hours until polls close across the country at 22:00 GMT.

If a trip to the polling station is on your to-do list for the evening, you can find out who is standing in your area here and compare the party manifestos here.

Here's a little sneak peek at what's been happening behind the scenes at the BBC to prepare for tonight:

To find out how to follow the election night with us on the BBC, click here.

Hundreds of voters, believed to be students, have been left unable to vote in Wales after failing to register correctly.

As many as 200 invalid applications are understood to be from the Liberty Bridge student block in Cardiff.

Students received emails on Monday from Cardiff council saying their applications had not been registered because of incomplete addresses.

The authority said it had spent "considerable time" trying to contact those affected.

Read the full story here.

If none of the parties commands a majority, we'll be faced with a hung Parliament. In that case, as the prime minister in power before the general election, Boris Johnson will stay in office and be given the first chance to form a government.

He'll have a few options:

• Forming a coalition government - forming a partnership with another party.
• Making a confidence and supply agreement - asking for occasional help from another party.
• Establishing a minority government - where the party doesn't have a majority in the Commons but governs anyway.

If the previous prime minister fails to form either a coalition or an agreement with another party, they are usually expected to resign. They will recommend that the leader of the largest opposition party gets the chance to form a government.

If the opposition party also fails, then Parliament will be dissolved again and there will be another election.

You can find out more about what could happen here.

Image source, Getty Images

There's a long night ahead of us, but here's what to look out for...

If a party wins in 326 constituencies - that's just over half the number of seats in the House of Commons - it will have gained a majority.

In practice, slightly fewer seats are needed. That's because the Speaker of the House (currently Labour's Sir Lindsay Hoyle) remains neutral, and Sinn Fein MPs have a long-standing tradition of not taking their seats.

If a party has a majority, its leader will head to Buckingham Palace to ask the Queen's permission to form a new government on Friday.

Planning on heading out to vote after work?

Well, you've got four and a half hours to get to it before the polling stations close at 22:00 GMT.

(By our estimates that's enough time to cast your vote, cook tea and settle down with a cuppa for when the results start rolling in...)

A total of 3,322 candidates are standing for election in the UK's 650 parliamentary seats today.

If you're not sure who's standing in your area, you can type in your postcode or constituency here to find out.

After a very busy election campaign, you'd be forgiven for thinking it's a bit quiet today.

That's because the BBC, like other broadcasters, isn't allowed to report details of campaigning or election issues while the polls are open. Read more about how the BBC reports polling day here.

Here's what's happened so far today, that we can actually tell you:

• The UK is going to the polls for the country's third general election in less than five years.
• Polling stations in 650 constituencies across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland opened at 07:00 GMT and close at 22:00.
• Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, Liberal Democrats leader Jo Swinson, SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon, DUP leader Arlene Foster, Greens co-leader Jonathan Bartley, and Sinn Fein's Stormont leader, Michelle O'Neill, have all been photographed as they headed to vote. We haven't spotted Plaid Cymru leader Adam Price yet, but we're keeping an eye out.
• The hashtag #dogsatpollingstations has been trending as social media users share pictures of their "pawlitical" companions.
• A 48-year-old man was arrested after a suspicious device was found near a polling station in North Lanarkshire. Read more here.