European Elections: What to watch out for in the results

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Voting is already under way as 28 European states vote over four days in EU elections.

To avoid accidentally influencing the vote elsewhere, any results and exit polls are top secret until Sunday night. There can be no reporting of projected results.

But on Sunday, everything will emerge over the course of a few hours.

Here are some key things to watch out for.

A really simple guide to the European elections
How does voting work in European elections?
Keep an eye on Europe's traditional powerhouse
The centre-right and centre-left parties have been the dominant power in every European Parliament. Between them, the European People's Party (EPP) and Socialists and Democrats (S&D) have always had more than 50% of the seats between them.

No-one is predicting a drastic change in the old order - but more of a gradual chipping away at the establishment.

The key will be whether the two parties drop from a combined strength of just over half of MEPs to just under half.

That small change would be historic - and might reflect the rising importance of the smaller parties. No longer would the two biggest players be able to form a majority by themselves.

European parliament elections: The Brexit effect
Watch for new alliance of the far right
Europe's right-wing nationalists have rarely succeeded in finding common ground - but this time they have tried very hard to do so.

Italy's Matteo Salvini is trying to create a powerful bloc in the Parliament, which he is calling the European Alliance for People and Nations.

On 18 May he gathered 12 far-right parties for a campaign rally, from Bulgaria in the east to Finland in the north, taking in France's high-profile National Rally and Germany's AfD.