By Joey Jones, Deputy Political Editor
UKIP have topped the European polls in the UK, with the Labour Party vying with the Conservatives for second place and the Lib Dems all but wiped out.
Sources from the other main parties have conceded Nigel Farage's party will win, with the leader hailing an "earthquake" in British politics.
Coming a year ahead of the General Election, it will be the first time a party other than the Conservatives or Labour has topped a nationwide poll for the first time in 108 years.
The Lib Dems look on course to lose all but one of their 11 MEPs, with the party coming in fifth place - after the Greens - in every region so far.
Farage's party broke a record that had stood since 1906 With only Northern Ireland's results yet to come in of the 12 UK regions, UKIP has 29.1% of the vote, Labour 25.4%, the Conservatives 24.6%, the Greens 7.9% and the Lib Dems 6.9%. There was a turnout of 36%.
UKIP are among a host of Eurosceptic parties across the continent looking set to make major gains as voters express their anger at the financial crisis that crippled many countries in the 28-member bloc.
Mr Farage, whose party also won a seat in Scotland for the first time, told Sky News: "It looks like we're going to top the poll and think that it is the earthquake that I've been looking for.
"We hit the Labour Party in the north of England in a way that nobody thought possible. I think for too long the argument has been UKIP picks up the Conservative vote and people have ignored the fact that, actually, with Labour voters, Lib Dem voters and non-voters, Conservatives are a minority of our vote."
In his acceptance speech after topping the poll in the South East, Mr Farage pledged: "You have not heard the last of us."
Nick Griffin lost his seat on the European Parliament He said the victory for his party's "people's army" was "just about the most extraordinary result that has been seen in British politics for 100 years".
BNP leader Nick Griffin, meanwhile, failed in his bid to be re-elected as an MEP in the North West.
He told Sky News: "We're out tonight but we'll be back. We set the agenda, we're the ones who broke the taboo about immigration - we've allowed UKIP to do what they've done but when people see they don't deliver their votes will crumble."
A senior Lib Dem source said it was "not looking good", adding that it was "touch and go in one or two regions".
And Lib Dem party president Tim Farron told Sky News: "If you decide to be the only party that's going to tackle the kind of anti-European theme that's been in British politics for perhaps 25 years now ... then you are potentially going to take a hit."
The Conservative's Defence Secretary, Philip Hammond, insisted the vote was skewed by a significant number of "lender voters" who would abandon UKIP and return to the Conservative fold for the 2015 general election.
Mr Hammond told Sky News: "UKIP is a protest party. Most of the people who are voting for UKIP - not all of them, but most of them - are disillusioned voters of other parties who have moved to UKIP to send us a message, and we've got a year to show them that we've got that message.
"We've got to reiterate our continuing story about how our economic plan is delivering for Britain, recognising that not everybody is feeling the benefit of that yet.
"We've got to make sure they do and we've also got to express the specific concerns that people are articulating about immigration and about Europe."
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