Scottish independence Referendum: Scotland votes No and Alex Salmond resigns

Summary

Alex Salmond to stand down as First Minister
Scotland votes No to independence
David Cameron says vote "settles will of the Scottish people"
Lord Smith of Kelvin to oversee further devolution
Voters answered: "Should Scotland be an independent country?"

Live Reporting

BBC News staff

The woman in charge...published at 23:05 British Summer Time 18 September 2014
The chief counting officer at the National Counting Centre at Ingliston, near Edinburgh, is Mary Pitcaithly.
"There is a big job to be done today but we are ready for it," she told the BBC's Laura Bicker.
"It seems to have gone very smoothly. It has been very busy. I know that polling has been brisk everywhere but I am not aware of significant queues. I am not aware of any major issues."
North Lanarkshire countpublished at 23:03 British Summer Time 18 September 2014
Stuart Dale
BBC Scotland
The first ballot box from Motherwell arrives.
In the studiopublished at 23:03 British Summer Time 18 September 2014
Jackie Bird is presenting BBC Scotland's results programme, along with Glenn Campbell.
'On schedule'published at 23:02 British Summer Time 18 September 2014
Sandy Murray
BBC Scotland news
All voting papers have now arrived at Alloa Town Hall. On schedule for an early declaration here.
Edinburgh countpublished at 23:00 British Summer Time 18 September 2014
Andrew Black
Political reporter, BBC Scotland
Ballot boxes are arriving at the Edinburgh count now.
'Huge Highland turnout'published at 23:00 British Summer Time 18 September 2014
Craig Anderson
BBC Scotland
"Yes" campaigners in the Highlands say postal votes here so far showing a majority for Better Together.
But they say that's what they expected and believe the majority of the local authority's 190,782 registered voters will vote "Yes".
Unofficial estimates of the turnout in the north are "huge" with some polling stations seeing queues of voters before they opened.
Survey reactionpublished at 22:58 British Summer Time 18 September 2014
Andrew Black
Political reporter, BBC Scotland
At the Ingliston national count, The YouGov survey seems to have intrigued the "No" side. They're, of course, being VERY cautious, but one senior figure in the camp tells me it could be an indication that undecided voters might have gone for "No" - early days yet though.
'Astonishing' turnoutpublished at 22:58 British Summer Time 18 September 2014
Andrew Marr
BBC News
Indications from the central count at Ingliston are that the turnout has been "astonishingly high".
Stirling countpublished at 22:56 British Summer Time 18 September 2014
Reevel Alderson
BBC Scotland's social affairs correspondent
Counting has begun in the Albert Halls in Stirling which, until 22:00, was also a polling place.
The counting officer says 62,400 people were registered to vote.
A total of 10,845 postal ballots were sent out and by 16:00 95% had been returned.
Watch livepublished at 22:54 British Summer Time 18 September 2014
Don't forget you can watch or listen to the BBC's live television coverage of the results at the top of this page.
Social media statspublished at 22:52 British Summer Time 18 September 2014
Today on Facebook, an 'I'm Voting' button was displayed to everyone of voting age in Scotland. As of 6pm tonight, the 'I'm Voting' button had appeared in people's newsfeeds more than 2.5 million times since 7am.
On Twitter, the most re-tweeted tweet on referendum day came from Scottish tennis player Andy Murray, external, who shared his stance with his 2.7 million followers. That tweet was re-tweeted more than 18,000 times.
YouGov pollpublished at 22:52 British Summer Time 18 September 2014
YouGov president Peter Kellner has been telling Sky News about their final poll of 3,000 people: it shows a 54-46 lead for the No campaign. He said he was now "99% certain" of a "No" vote.
Counters in Lerwickpublished at 22:49 British Summer Time 18 September 2014
John Johnston
BBC News, Shetland
Shetland counters get ready for the most northern ballot boxes to arrive in Lerwick.
Political panelpublished at 22:48 British Summer Time 18 September 2014
SNP MSP Humza Yousaf told the BBC Scotland Decides programme he was "confident" of a victory for the "Yes" campaign.
Lib Dem MP Danny Alexander said a high turnout could marginally help the "No" campaign.
Vote countpublished at 22:43 British Summer Time 18 September 2014
An election official counts votes at the counting centre in Ingliston, Edinburgh.
Image source, Reuters
Western Isles concernpublished at 22:41 British Summer Time 18 September 2014
The BBC's Angus MacDonald says the plane that will carry the ballot boxes to Stornoway for the Western Isles count has arrived in Benbecula. However, there is a still a fog around the isles and they do not know if the plane will make it to Stornoway. They have a plan to use a ferry if the plane cannot fly.
Fife rumourpublished at 22:39 British Summer Time 18 September 2014
There is talk on Twitter that a number of voters were turned away in Fife.
In a series of tweets, Fife Council has clarified, external: Postal voters without their postal packs couldn't vote at polling stations, need to ensure people haven't voted twice. If people hadn't received/had lost their postal vote, they were told they could get another one from Glenrothes today. We've been putting info out online/in press asking anyone who hadn't received their postal votes to contact elections team
On-the-day pollpublished at 22:35 British Summer Time 18 September 2014
A YouGov survey of voters previously polled has just been released. It shows support for "No" at 54%. "Yes" at 46%.
Islands flightpublished at 22:33 British Summer Time 18 September 2014
There were concerns that the count in Stornoway on Lewis could be delayed by fog affecting the plane that was carrying ballot boxes from the other Western Isles.
It seems the plane is flying so there is no delay expected - but that could change.
On Twitterpublished at 22:30 British Summer Time 18 September 2014
Labour MP Jim Murphy, external: This is more of a feeling than an #indyref prediction. Today I just sensed a wee bit of movement in our direction. But far too early to call