Image source, AFP/Getty

The AFP news agency has been looking at voter turnout in France's 96 mainland départements or administrative regions. 

In the Gers region in south-western France, 38.46% of the electorate had voted by midday, the highest turnout by that time in the country.

Four regions in central France - Corrèze, Cantal, Puy-de-Dôme and Saône-et-Loire - all saw high early voter turnout of more than 35% by midday.

In Paris, 24.24% of voters had voted by midday, up more than 2.5 percentage points on 2012.

The lowest turnouts at midday were recorded in the regions surrounding Paris - Val-d’Oise, Val de-Marne, Seine-Saint-Denis and Hauts-de-Seine - and Vaucluse in southern France.

Queues in London remain lengthy with some voters reportedly having to wait up to two hours to place their slips in the box.

At a polling station in South Kensington, the man in charge, Edouard De Guitaut, told AFP news agency that it was "going to be a busy day". 

"In London, we're expecting perhaps 50,000 voters," he said. 

People have been sharing photos on social media showing crowds at the French consulate circling around the block. 

Others, such as Michael Setton, have been tweeting their frustration. "Total fail in terms of organisation," he wrote. 

One UK-based French voter managed to run the London Marathon in the morning before going to the French Consulate in Kensington to vote.

Some French citizens in the city have said on social media that they waited about two, and in some cases, three hours to vote.

We don't know this man's time, but the world marathon record stands at two hours and two minutes. Will he spend longer waiting than he did running?

The lights went out at a voting station in the town of Annonay in south-western France for about an hour, local media report.

The Dauphiné Libéré regional newspaper said, external it was because of a fire in a nearby building.

The power cut caused some issues for registering proxy votes, the newspaper said.

Mayor Olivier Dussopt said local authorities were obliged to prepare for such eventualities.

National Front leader Marine Le Pen's party failed to deliver posters in time for them to appear outside voting booths abroad, the French foreign ministry has said. 

"The posters for the candidate Marine Le Pen were not provided so the corresponding poster board is empty," the ministry said.

"The posters are printed by the candidates themselves and it is up to them to hand them in to the electoral commission before the deadline [of 10 April]."

Around 1.3 million French people abroad - around 2% of the total electorate - are registered to vote, AFP news agency reports.

Image source, Getty Images

The head chef at the presidential residence, the Elysee Palace, has voted.

"When you have the power to choose your boss!" tweeted Guillaume Gomez, who prepares the president's meals.

There were no scuffles or shenanigans at this polling station in Solesmes, north-western France, where Benedictine sisters of St Cecilia's Abbey formed an orderly line to take turns in casting their ballots.

Image source, AFP

The French foreign ministry, responsible for organising the vote abroad, has said the high attendance at polling stations around the world has not caused any major problems so far. 

The ministry said queues in some cities, notably Montreal in Canada, stretched from "here to there" because participation was so much higher than in previous elections, centre-left daily Le Monde reports, external (in French). 

Image source, Reuters

If you are just joining us, welcome, and here is a round-up of how the day is unfolding:

• Voter turnout in the first round of an election that will determine who will become France's next president is said to be on course for 80% 
• Polling stations have been busy across France - and elsewhere - since opening in the country at 08:00 local time (06:00 GMT)
• Security has been stepped up following the killing of a police officer in Paris on Thursday, with about 50,000 police and several thousand armed soldiers deployed across France
• The leading candidates - including the Front National leader Marine Le Pen, centrist Emmanuel Macron and far-left candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon - have cast their votes. 
• There have been scuffles in Hénin-Beaumont, where two topless women in Le Pen face masks chanted mockingly "Marine, President"

As the world watches France in the most unpredictable election in the country in years, with 11 candidates vying for the top job, here is a handy need-to-know BBC guide to why it is so important. 

The five leading candidates voted earlier today.

Large numbers of French citizens have been turning out in cities around the world to vote.

Long waits have been reported in London and Berlin as well as other cities, and people have been sharing pictures.

Image source, AFP/Getty

Some voters have attended polling stations with their dogs.

A number have been spotted, including by BBC Europe reporter Gavin Lee in Paris.

Image source, AFP/Getty

Image source, AFP/Getty

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Centre-right daily Le Figaro is reporting, external (in French) on a variety of schemes helping people to exercise their right to vote:

1. In Brittany, several taxi firms are offering free rides to polling stations for voters living in isolated areas, particularly older people
2. In the village of Plouguiel, also in Brittany, the manager of La Chope bar is offering a free drink to all those who have voted and the offer will also be in place during the second round of voting
3. In Strasbourg, a cultural centre in the poor suburb of Neuhof has launched a national competition aimed at urban areas where voter turnout is often low offering money and a large street party to the area that sees the largest number of people vote

Getting the estate to vote in Marseille

Image source, Reuters

Centre-left daily Le Monde has come up with a satirical feature, external (in French) for oenophiles matching each candidate with a French wine so voters know how to toast their success or clink a glass in commiseration if they drop out:

1. François Fillon - Saint-Emilion is reportedly the centre-right candidate's favourite tipple
2. Benoît Hamon - the Socialist is said to like a glass of Pouilly-Fuissé
3. Emmanuel Macron - Lafite-Rothschild is suggested for the centrist candidate, who professes a love of Bordeaux reds
4. Jean-Luc Mélenchon - a variety of reds is suggested for the far-left candidate
5. Marine Le Pen - a white wine is suggested for the far-right candidate

Voting was temporarily suspended at the Pierre-et-Marie-Curie school in the eastern town of Besançon after a car was driven at speed towards the polling station by two occupants who fled, leaving the engine running. De-miners from Strasbourg were called in and gave the all-clear not long afterwards. L'Est républicain newspaper said a rifle had been found in the Peugeot 308. It is unclear who the occupants were. Voting has now resumed.

France's interior ministry has tweeted a photo of a Turkish chef who gained global fame during the recent Turkish referendum on new powers for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Nusret Gokce, also known as "Salt Bae", originally came to prominence for the unique way in which he sprinkled salt on his "Ottoman steak".

He was then pictured during the referendum holding his ballot paper in the same way he holds his steaks.

The interior ministry tweet bears the hashtag #OuiJeVote and has been retweeted more than 1,800 times.

Jean-Luc Mélenchon, candidate of the Communist-backed La France Insoumise (France Unbowed), has cast his ballot at a voting station in Paris.

How Mélenchon galvanised the left

Image source, AFP/Getty

Image source, AFP/Getty

The ruling Socialist party's candidate, Benoît Hamon, has cast his vote. He was at a polling centre in the Paris suburb of Trappes.

Hamon's plan for a universal basic income

Presidential candidate François Fillon of the centre-right Republicans has cast his vote at a polling centre in Paris.

Fillon and the "fake jobs" affair

Image source, Reuters

The BBC News website's Henri Astier is in a very long queue of people waiting to vote at the French consulate in Kensington.

This is the biggest number of people voting he has ever seen in the UK capital.

He is not the only one feeling a certain frustration at the long wait, although there is also pride in the strength of democratic participation.