Voters across Scotland are heading to the polls to pick the country's MEPs in the European election.

Scotland sends six members to the European Parliament, with eight parties fielding candidates, standing alongside two independent candidates.

Polling stations open at 7am on Thursday and close at 10pm, but anyone who is already in line at this time will still be allowed to vote.

The country's 32 local authorities will begin counting votes on Sunday, with the results being announced centrally from Edinburgh as they are confirmed from 10pm onwards.

The full Scottish result will not be announced until Monday lunchtime, because the Western Isles does not count votes on the Sabbath.

The UK Government did not want to participate in this election, but because a Brexit deal has not been agreed, it is legally bound to elect MEPs while it remains an EU member state.

Once the UK ceases to be a member of the European Union, parliamentary representation will cease too.

At the moment Scotland has six MEPs: two SNP, two Labour, one Conservative and one UKIP, elected in 2014.

Three of those MEPs are standing for re-election on party lists.

Scotland's six representatives are elected on a proportional basis to the share of the vote each party or candidate receives.

You can keep up to date with the election results on Sunday night and Monday morning on the STV News website and app, or on Twitter and Facebook.