Exit poll suggesting hung Parliament sends Twitter into meltdown

Hundreds took to Twitter after an astonishing exit poll suggested Theresa May's gamble on a snap election had backfired with the Tories lose their majority.

The BBC/Sky/ITV poll suggested the UK was heading for a hung parliament, with Conservatives 12 seats short of the 326 they need for an absolute majority in the Commons.

The poll put Tories on 314 seats, with Labour on 266, the Scottish National Party on 34, Liberal Democrats on 14, Plaid Cymru on three and Greens on one.

And Twitter went into overdrive - with some football analogies - as everyone wanted to react.

One of the first was Match of the Day host Gary Lineker who tweeted: "I think Theresa May has won own goal of the season."

Jonathan Reynolds tweeted: " If the exit poll is true, I am no longer in the running to be the next #SAFC manager."

Pete Toon tweeted a gif of Sir Patrick Stewart laughing with the words: "strong and stable"

And this was the David Lammy tweet:

And reporter Jon Kay tweeted the now famous scene of Brenda from Bristol being told of the election, with the words: "Are you going to tell her - or am I? anotherone ?"