Independence would create "challenges" for Scotland but may be the only option which provide Scots with "maximum control", the First Minister has said.

Nicola Sturgeon said her priority in the Brexit negotiations with the UK Government and the European Union will be to "protect Scotland's interests".

The SNP leader said if the nation's interests cannot be protected inside the United Kingdom then independence "must be" an option available though it would bring the country "challenges" however she believes it would also bring Scotland just "as many opportunities".

The First Minister's comments were made in a speech in Edinburgh.

She said: "I am a lifelong nationalist but I also said in the immediate aftermath of the EU referendum that in seeking to chart a way forward for Scotland, independence wasn't my starting point. That remains the case.

"Protecting Scotland's interests is my starting point and I am determined to explore all options to do that.

"But I am equally clear about this - if we find that our interests can't be protected in a UK context independence must be one of those options and Scotland must have the right to consider that option. That's why we will take the preparatory steps to ensure that it is an option open to the Scottish Parliament if the Scottish Parliament considers it necessary.

"Now I do not pretend the option of independence would be straight forward. It would bring its own challenges as well, I think, as many opportunities but consider this: the UK we voted to stay part of in 2014, a UK within the EU, is fundamentally changing.

"The outlook for the UK is uncertainty, upheaval and unpredictability. In these circumstances it may well be the option that offers us the greatest certainty, stability and the maximum control over our own destiny is that of independence".

Sturgeon also used her speech to discuss why she believed the Remain campaign lost the EU referendum across the UK.

The First Minister said the Leave vote reflected a "loss of trust" in the institutions of the UK. She also said "much of the blame" should fall on the UK Government's "ideologically obsession with austerity".

Sturgeon said her meetings with European Union officials in Brussels had been "warm".