Donald Tusk has said there is still not "sufficient progress" in Brexit talks to begin discussing a transitional deal as he left a meeting with Theresa May at Downing Street this afternoon.

The EC President's bilateral talks with Mrs May were the first contact since the Prime Minister's Florence speech - which was billed as an intervention that would unblock slow-moving negotiations.

Mr Tusk said he was pleased to see a "constructive and more realistic tone" in the speech and today's discussion.

"This shows the philosophy of having her cake and eating it is finally coming to an end - at least I hope so," he told reporters. "That's good news."

However, he indicated he was not yet willing to bow to British calls to move on to talks to agreements over a transitional deal and the terms of the final divorce agreement.

"As you know we will discuss out future relations with the UK once there is so-called 'sufficient progress'," he said.

"The sides are working and will work hard at it but if you ask me, and if today member states ask me, I would say there is no sufficient progress yet.

"But we will work on it."

The EU's chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier has insisted there must be real progress on agreeing the UK's divorce bill, citizens' rights and the Irish border before discussions can move on to an exit deal.

In her Florence speech, Mrs May said the UK should have a transitional period of around two years and offered to pay full commitments into Europe's coffers up to 2020 as a sweetener.

However, she was quickly told that European leaders still wanted more clarity on British proposals.

Mr Barnier also made clear that while he welcomed the speech was was still "keen and eager" to understand how it would be turned into a formal negotiating strategy.