Scotland votes to stay in UK: BBC forecast

Scotland has voted to stay in the United Kingdom after rejecting independence in a historic referendum, the BBC forecast on Friday. 

With 26 out of the country's 32 council areas having declared, the "No" side has 54% of the vote, with the "Yes" campaign on 46%. By 06:15 GMT, the "No" campaign had more than 1,397,000 votes, with "Yes" on just over 1,176,000. A total of 1,852,828 votes is needed for victory in the referendum.

Predicting on the basis of the result declared so far, the BBC declared that the "No" side will win the referendum with 55% of the vote while "Yes" will secure 45%. This margin of victory is some three points greater than that anticipated by the final opinion polls.

Deputy First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon told the news broadcaster that a no vote would be "a deep personal and political disappointment", adding: "There is an appetite of change in Scotland, this country has changed forever." After votes have been tallied, the chief counting officer, Mary Pitcaithly, in Edinburgh, is set to officially declare the result followed by a statement by Queen Elizabeth II.

As the figures continued to pour in from different parts of Scotland, it emerged that Glasgow voted Yes but the overwhelming voice was for no to independence. 

The people of Scotland had been queueing up to register their vote in the historic referendum yesterday to decide their future as part an independent country or the UK.

They had a simple "Yes" or "No" choice to the question: "Should Scotland be an independent country?" Nearly 97% of the electorate, adding up to 4,285,323 people, were registered to vote at 2,608 polling places across the country.