Professor John Curtice
Polling expert

"if our exit poll is correct the SNP could suffer heavier losses than was widely anticipated in advance of polling day. Indeed this, together with clear evidence of a Conservative revival north of the border, may yet provide the Conservatives with the vital extra seats that they might need to secure an overall majority."

Political scientist Prof Nicola McEwan told BBC Scotland: "The exit poll and projections are based on probability so it's not just that they've sampled people coming out of the polling stations but they have compared it with the vote shares last time round.

"They tend to be sampling in the same places so it gives them a fuller picture."

"Some of the seats are more likely to go than others. Within Scotland they're confident - 90%, 80% confident - that the SNP will lose 11 seats.

"The other 11 comes more in terms of the balance of probabilities, perhaps in that 'too close to call' category, including the two Paisley seats, where it's possible Labour might pick up the seats again but they're less confident about it."

Quick reminder. Exit poll was by GFK /Ipsos Mori for three broadcasters: BBC, ITV, Sky.

The sample was 30,450 voters leaving 144 UK polling stations.

Ten of the sampling stations were in Scotland.

Election expert Prof Michael Keating said this could mean there is less confidence in the sample in Scotland.

Rapper and columnist Darren McGarvey - aka Loki - is a Yes voter and former SNP supporter, but he decided to vote Labour at the last possible moment:

“I’m a Yes voter and I believe in independence so by proxy I’ve been a supporter of the SNP in the past, but as much as I was pretty sure I was going to vote SNP today, once I got into the polling booth I actually felt like taking a punt."

He continued: “There’s something about independence that I support, but the quality of the dialog from some of the [SNP] MPs who were voted in last time has not really been there.

"Corbyn essentially called my bluff. Someone who came out of the radical left and said, ‘you want radical? Here it is. He calls the bluff of the Tories, saying ‘you’re strong and stable? You look weak and wobbly’.”

“What he proposes is genuinely left-wing and of genuine substance. I appreciate the restrictions placed on the SNP and I think they are a formidable political force.

"If push comes to shove and there’s another independence referendum I’m behind them all the way, but that’s not what this vote is about for me today and that’s why I decided to vote Labour.

Steven Duff
BBC Scotland

Early intel suggests Aberdeen South will be very tight between the SNP and the Conservatives.

In Aberdeenshire West and Kincardine, the Conservatives are hopeful of taking the seat from SNP.

Brian Taylor
BBC Scotland Political Editor

Murdo Fraser of the Tories says the exit poll, if proved correct, takes indyref2 off the table.

Brian Taylor
BBC Scotland Political Editor

IF - and remember it is if - the exit poll is correct, then to what might one attribute the decline in SNP strength?

Douglas Alexander, who lost his seat two years ago, reckons one factor is growing discontent with Nicola Sturgeon.

Jeane Freeman of the SNP says she finds it hard to see where the SNP's "lost" 22 seats - as identified in the exit poll - might come from.

Might she well have a point? We shall see.

Alison Rowat, a journalist with The Herald, took a sharp intake of breath when the exit poll was announced.

She told Fiona Stalker on the BBC Election Cafe: "After the initial gasp, you think well it fits in with the 'anything can happen' period of politics which seems to be prevailing across the world at the moment."

Asked which issues she thought people were voting on, she said: "I think people were mosting voting on Indyref 2.

"They were told constantly this was not a Holyrood election, the issues were not the same, I think they've taken their chance to have a say on health and education."

The Exit Poll report that quite a number of constituencies are "too close to call".

Aberdeen South, the Conservatives have a 63% chance of victory, Labour has a 11% chance of victory, the SNP has a 26% chance of victory

Airdrie & Shotts, Labour has a 23% chance of victory, the SNP has a 77% chance of victory

Argyll & Bute, the Conservatives have a 4% chance of victory, the Liberal Democrats have a 36% chance of victory, the SNP has a 60% chance of victory

Ayr, Carrick & Cumnock, the Conservatives have a 35% chance of victory, Labour has a 1% chance of victory, the SNP has a 64% chance of victory

Banff & Buchan, the Conservatives have a 25% chance of victory, the SNP has a 75% chance of victory

East Lothian, the Conservatives have a 24% chance of victory, Labour has a 55% chance of victory, the SNP has a 20% chance of victory

Edinburgh East, Labour has a 49% chance of victory, the SNP has a 51% chance of victory

Edinburgh South West, the Conservatives have a 37% chance of victory, Labour has a 27% chance of victory, the SNP has a 36% chance of victory

Fife North East, the Conservatives have a 7% chance of victory, the Liberal Democrats have a 73% chance of victory, the SNP has a 20% chance of victory

Glasgow Central, Labour has a 59% chance of victory, the SNP has a 41% chance of victory

Gordon, the Liberal Democrats have a 51% chance of victory, the SNP has a 49% chance of victory

Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch & Strathspey, the Liberal Democrats have a 48% chance of victory, the SNP has a 52% chance of victory

Kirkcaldy & Cowdenbeath, Labour has a 25% chance of victory, the SNP has a 75% chance of victory

Lanark & Hamilton East, the Conservatives have a 5% chance of victory, Labour has a 16% chance of victory, the SNP has a 79% chance of victory

Ochil & Perthshire South, the Conservatives have a 31% chance of victory, Labour has a 23% chance of victory, the SNP has a 46% chance of victory

Paisley & Renfrewshire North, Labour has a 21% chance of victory, the SNP has a 79% chance of victory

Paisley & Renfrewshire South, Labour has a 54% chance of victory, the SNP has a 46% chance of victory

Renfrewshire East, the Conservatives have a 32% chance of victory, Labour has a 58% chance of victory, the SNP has a 10% chance of victory

Rutherglen & Hamilton West, Labour has a 41% chance of victory, the SNP has a 59% chance of victory

Stirling, the Conservatives have a 56% chance of victory, Labour has a 3% chance of victory, the SNP has a 41% chance of victory

The exit poll has predicted that the SNP could lose 22 seats in Scotland. These appear to be the most likely losses.

Projected Conservative gains in Scotland

• Projected: Aberdeenshire West & Kincardine 99% chance of a Conservative victory
• Projected: Angus 90% chance of a Conservative victory
• Projected: Berwickshire, Roxburgh & Selkirk 99% chance of a Conservative victory
• Projected: Dumfries & Galloway 99% chance of a Conservative victory
• Projected: Moray 99% chance of a Conservative victory
• Projected: Perth & Perthshire North 99% chance of a Conservative victory

Forecast Labour gains

We are forecasting one Labour gain in Scotland

• Projected: Edinburgh North & Leith 81% chance of a Labour victory

Forecast Lib Dem gains

We are forecasting four Lib Dem gains. All of these are in Scotland.

• Projected: Caithness, Sutherland & Easter Ross 81% chance of a Liberal Democrat victory
• Projected: Dunbartonshire East 99% chance of a Liberal Democrat victory
• Projected: Edinburgh West 99% chance of a Liberal Democrat victory
• Projected: Ross, Skye & Lochaber 90% chance of a Liberal Democrat victory

Nicol Stephen, of the Scottish Liberal Democrats, says he expects the party to gain several seats in Scotland.

"Overall, I think the message here is for parties in government, this looks like a bad result for Theresa May in the United Kingdom going down, and for Nicola Sturgeon and the SNP in Scotland, going down to be honest far more than I ever expected - if this is true."

Former Labour MP Douglas Alexander told BBC Scotland: "We know that Theresa May had a disastrous campaign. I can genuinely say I can't remember a party leader having as bad a campaign as Theresa May.

"And I'd suggest that Nicola Sturgeon couldn't find her footing in this campaign either. So I'm perhaps less surprised that some others by the direction that this poll indicates.

"But I learned pretty comprehensively a few years ago that exit polls can throw up unexpected results."

Nick Eardley
BBC Scotland Westminster correspondent

Caveats, caveats. Attach them to everything over the next few hours.

But if the exit poll is true, it points to an astonishing picture.

If the SNP lose 22 seats, it's likely to mean all the opposition parties at Holyrood far exceed their expectations.

But while the Scottish Tories will be delighted, the party UK-wide will be extremely worried. Falling short of a majority would mean Theresa May's decision to go to the country has backfired spectacularly.

And was the political class wrong on Jeremy Corbyn? If if has increased his party's tally by 34, it's a remarkable turnaround for the man many of his colleagues fought hard to get rid of.