The First Minister has said she will give her thoughts on the timing of a potential second independence referendum in a "matter of weeks".

On a visit to Westminster, Nicola Sturgeon said she believed it was best for the whole UK to stay in the EU and reiterated her party's support for a second Brexit referendum.

But she added that the "fiasco" of Brexit since the first EU referendum in June 2016 showed Scots needed to be "in charge of our own destiny".

Sturgeon was speaking outside Parliament alongside the SNP's group of MPs on the day after Theresa May's Brexit deal suffered a massive Commons defeat.

MPs rejected it by 432 votes to 202 - the majority against of 230 the biggest parliamentary defeat ever inflicted on a sitting UK Government.

The Prime Minister has said she will reach out to politicians in a bid to find a way forward, with Britain set in law to leave the EU on March 29 this year.

Later on Wednesday, May's government will face a vote of no confidence brought by Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, which she is expected to win.

Sturgeon said May called her for talks following Tuesday night's defeat for her deal, but the First Minister added she does not think the Prime Minister knows what to do next.

Pressed by reporters on the issue of a fresh independence push, she said: "I'll say more about the timing of a referendum in the next matter of weeks.

"I want to see the UK stay in the EU - I think it would be best for the whole UK but... even when Scotland is independent, that serves our interests best as well.

"That's why we're backing the People's Vote, a second EU referendum.

"But if that's not possible, and even in terms of our wider interests, the chaos and the fiasco of the last couple of years have shown that the worst thing for Scotland is to be thirled to Westminster when it's making such a mess of things.

"We would be far better off in charge of our own destiny."

The Conservatives accused the First Minister of "grandstanding" in London to "distract people from her role in the Alex Salmond scandal".

Scottish Tory chief whip Maurice Golden said: "Once again, we see Nicola Sturgeon playing her usual political games today.

"Before people were even out of bed this morning, she was seeking to use last night's vote to bang on about independence.

"Then she hot-footed it to Westminster, clearing calculating that grandstanding in Westminster might help distract people from her role in the Alex Salmond scandal.

"Finally, after accusing others of being delusional, she then insisted her job is not on the line over the affair. It is the First Minister who appears increasingly detached from reality.

"No wonder the SNP MPs ordered to line up behind her in Westminster looked so fed up."

He added: "Nicola Sturgeon also needs to explain exactly why she needed to be in London today.

"Was she there as First Minister? If so, why should the taxpayer stump up for a SNP media stunt?

"The First Minister is losing the plot. More and more, people are asking why on earth we should put up with it?"

In a Holyrood statement, Scotland's Brexit secretary Michael Russell told MSPs of some of the "regrettable" preparations being made for no-deal Brexit.

He urged UK ministers to rule out that scenario "now and forever".

The Scottish Government is starting to make decisions on matters such as medicines, clinical and consumable stockpiling and emergency transportation, Russell said.

He added that a public information campaign is in the "final phase of development" and said the Scottish Government's resilience committee is meeting weekly.

Conservative MSP Adam Tomkins told the Brexit secretary the decision of SNP MPs to vote against the Prime Minister's Brexit deal made a no-deal exit from the EU more likely.