A European Union summit in Brussels has backed the Brexit deal reached between the UK and EU.

It took leaders just 40 minutes to endorse nearly 600 pages of legal text and a 20-page roadmap for the EU's future relationship with Britain.

Calling it a sad day, the president of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, said that it was the "best" and "only deal possible". He warned that if British MPs thought they could get a better one next month by voting against the current offer, they would be disappointed.

Prime Minister Theresa May said the deal "delivered for the British people" and set the UK "on course for a prosperous future", urging both Leave and Remain voters to get behind the agreement.

Focus now returns to Westminster, with the deal expected to be put to MPs in the House of Commons before Christmas. Approval is far from guaranteed, with Labour, the Lib Dems, the SNP, the DUP and many Conservatives MPs all set to vote against it.

Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt warned "nothing could be ruled out" if Mrs May loses the vote - including the government collapsing.

BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg said however the PM really feels about this deal, her strategy for the next couple of weeks is crystal clear. Her case? This is all there is. Read more from Laura here.

Poland's Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki tweeted , external(in Polish) that the Brexit deal "guarantees the rights of Poles in the UK, the interest of Polish companies and the EU budget”.

He said Poland and the UK "will remain close allies".

There are an estimated one million Polish nationals resident in the UK, the Office for National Statistics says. You can read its 2017 report on non-UK born residents here., external

Poles form the largest group of UK residents born outside the UK.

Reality Check

Image source, Getty Images

"Go back and negotiate, let's keep us in the single market and customs union."

That was the message from the SNP's leader at Westminster, Ian Blackford, to Theresa May at Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday.

Mrs May responded by saying such a Brexit outcome would "frustrate the vote of the British people".

But what is the SNP's Brexit policy and what would it mean?

Read the full BBC Reality Check piece here.

The EU leaders have approved the two key Brexit documents:

• The EU withdrawal agreement: a 599-page, legally binding document setting out the terms of the UK's exit from the EU. It covers the UK's £39bn "divorce bill", citizens' rights and the Northern Ireland "backstop" - a way to keep the Irish border open, if trade talks stall

• The political declaration, which sets out what the UK and EU's relationship may be like after Brexit - outlining how things like UK-EU trade and security will work

There was no formal vote on Sunday, with the EU proceeding by consensus.

There's more relief among businesses about today's agreement - and a warning to MPs.

The head of the EEF manufacturing group, Stephen Phipson, said the uncertainty had hit firms "particularly hard", with investment delayed, jobs lost and growth hit.

"Today’s agreement finally provides a clear pathway to a stable and sensible transition from full membership of the EU and avoids the horrific consequences of leaving without a deal," he said.

Which is why, he added, MPs should take note as the vote in Parliament approaches.

"I would strongly advise all MPs to look closely at this deal, the consequences of the alternative and make a pragmatic decision that provides our economy and business with the clarity and certainty we need," he said.

Politicians in Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrat (CDU) party welcomed today's deal with the UK, while criticising Brexit itself.

Quoted by Sueddeutsche Zeitung (in German), external, CDU parliamentary deputy leader Katja Leikert said it was "the best possible result under very difficult circumstances".

"There could be no perfect solution for Brexit, which is a fundamentally wrong decision, in our opinion."

A leading CDU MEP, David McAllister, called Brexit "an historic mistake with heavy consequences for the UK".

Social Democrat (SPD) politician Christian Petry said the Brexit deal "enables an orderly withdrawal" for the UK.

But the Greens' Europe spokeswoman Franziska Brantner called the deal "far too weak" on the environment and social welfare. She warned there was a risk of the UK undermining EU standards in those areas.

Image source, Reuters

Toyota, which has a huge car plant near Derby, said it was now important for the UK and EU to press on and secure free and frictionless trade deal.

The Japanese giant, which warned about the uncertainty around Brexit, said the agreement should "avoid the significant production disruption a ‘No Deal’ outcome would have for ‘Just in Time’ supply chains in the automotive industry".

A Toyota statement added: “We appreciate that these have been challenging negotiations."

Adam Fleming
Brussels reporter

No member states raised objections to the Brexit withdrawal deal and it was approved in a matter of seconds, a senior EU official told BBC Brussels reporter Adam Fleming.

Around seven leaders spoke in the session of the EU27, mostly to say that it was a sad day and that they wanted the future relationship with the UK to be as close as possible.

After Theresa May’s address, roughly half of the leaders spoke. Several wished her good luck with the "meaningful" vote yet to come in Parliament.

The senior official wouldn’t confirm or deny whether Mrs May had conceded privately that she didn’t have a majority for her deal in Parliament, but said no "what ifs" were discussed.

The EU’s only Plan B was its existing contingency planning, the official said.

Image source, BBC News

President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker insists that the deal reached between the UK and EU "is the deal".

"I'm never changing my mind", he told BBC Europe Editor Katya Adler. "This is the best deal possible, this is the only deal possible."

As a result, if MPs were to reject the deal when it is put to the House of Commons, "we would have no deal".

Brexit was not the result of a failure by the EU, he added, "it's the responsibility of Britain".

"You are telling people year after year, month after month, day after day, that the membership of the European Union is a bad thing for British citizens, so I don't think the European Union is guilty for the result."

Image source, EPA

Shadow Scotland secretary Lesley Laird has written to David Mundell, calling on him to clarify his position on the withdrawal deal.

The deal, she says, "is a clear breach of your red line on fishing", with some concerned there is insufficient clarity that the UK will not remain part of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) after Brexit.

Secretary of State for Scotland David Mundell previously threatened to quit Theresa May's Cabinet if UK participation in the CFP continued beyond 2020.

"I would be therefore be grateful if you were able to clarify that you will not be voting for the deal on this basis," Ms Laird wrote.

"If that is the case, I really must ask why you have not resigned your position in the Cabinet?"

Dutch Finance Minister Wopke Hoekstra cautiously has welcomed the Brexit deal, but said "Brexit itself is a disaster".

Speaking on the Dutch TV news programme Buitenhof, he said the UK exit was bad news for Europe, "but in the end it will also turn out to be bad for the UK itself".

Brexit "will have an impact on the Netherlands", he said, as the UK is an important trade partner for the Dutch.

You can listen to the minister's comments here (in Dutch), external.

The chance of Theresa May’s deal getting through parliament is “effectively nil,” the Shadow Secretary State for Northern Ireland says.

Tony Lloyd outlined Labour’s opposition to the agreement the government has reached with the rest of the EU: “It doesn’t provide long term friction-less trade, it doesn’t guarantee the employment rights for people in the workplace or the environmental standards, it doesn’t keep us in international agencies.”

Mr Lloyd said: “What she’s created is something that satisfies very few people, so the chances of getting this deal through parliament I think is effectively nil.”

Asked about the potential of a no-deal Brexit, Lloyd said “parliament simply would not allow” this outcome.

Laura Kuenssberg
BBC political editor

It's "the only deal", Theresa May says.

But the BBC's political editor says there is strong opposition to it among UK politicians.

Read her analysis in full here.

Katya Adler
Europe Editor

Our Europe Editor says Brexit is also about "convincing other EU countries and the world that the EU remains strong and unified".

UK Finance, a trade body representing banks and financial services in the UK, sees the Brexit deal agreed in Brussels as a key step to avoid a "devastating" no deal.

All 13 Scottish Conservative MPs - including Scottish Secretary David Mundell - threatened mutiny earlier this month unless the Brexit deal ensured the UK left the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP).

The CFP is the shared fisheries policy of the European Union, which sets quotas for the amount of fish countries are allowed to catch, as well as controlling what kind of fish are caught and where.

The policy is deeply unpopular with fishing crews across the UK.

Read more here about the impact of Brexit on the UK's fisheries.

Image source, Getty Images

Scottish Conservative MP Ross Thomson has called the EU position on a future fisheries agreement with the UK "deeply troubling".

Mr Thomson, who says he intends to vote against Theresa May's deal, says the EU have made clear in a document published today , externalthat they want to maintain the unpopular Common Fisheries Policy (CFP).

"The current arrangement is very good for the EU, the arrangement we have on fisheries has been devastating for fishing communities across Scotland and the UK", he says.

"It's in the interests of the EU to keep it going...It may not be called that, but if it looks like the CFP and behaves like the CFP then it is the CFP, and that's why we need to resist it as we go into these negotiations."

The prime minister has repeatedly stated that the deal will put the UK in "full sovereign control of our waters", with fishing not "tied to any other aspect of our economic partnership".

But Mr Thomson says the situation is "ambiguous".