US election 2024 timeline through the night - UK hour-by-hour results guide

The results of the 2024 presidential election will soon start rolling in - but it could be days before we learn who will be the next president of the United States.

Democrat Kamala Harris, the current vice president, is going head to head with Republican Donald Trump, who is hoping to return to the White House after winning the 2016 election but then losing out on a second term to Joe Biden.

Millions of US citizens have cast their votes early this year, but millions more are expected to fill in their ballot papers in person at polling stations across the nation today, November 4.

READ MORE: What is the electoral college in the US presidential election 2024?

The result of the election is on a knife-edge with pollsters putting the two candidates neck and neck as polling day got underway. The winner will need to secure at least 270 electoral college votes to become the next president of the United States.

Both candidates have spent the last few weeks campaigning up and down the country, focusing much of their attention on seven key battlegrounds that could swing either way. The winner will come down to who can win over voters in Pennsylvania, Arizona, Nevada, North Carolina, Georgia, Wisconsin and Michigan. The eastern state of Pennsylvania is the real one to watch with 19 electoral votes on offer, while Georgia and North Carolina both offer 16.

Polls will close on November 5 at different times in different states, with those on the east coast the first to start counting votes from around 6pm in the US. In the UK, that means the action will kick off from around midnight.

Once a state closes its polls, results can be called by the US news networks, but that will take place only when the networks are confident that a candidate will win the state. That means for states where it is a closer contest it may take hours - or even days - for a projection to be made.

Here is a guide to how the US election night is likely to unfold overnight in the UK. The time given is when the last polls close in each state, according to the AP news agency.

Midnight

Polls close in:

• Indiana - 11 electoral votes
• Kentucky - 8 electoral votes
• South Carolina - 9 electoral votes
• Vermont - 3 electoral votes
• Virginia - 13 electoral votes
• Georgia - 16 electoral votes

Mr Trump is likely to take the Republican strongholds of Indiana, Kentucky and South Carolina, and Ms Harris the Democratic safe seats of Vermont and Virginia.

However, swing state Georgia will be the real first test. Mr Biden won the state very narrowly in 2020, but the result was confirmed only after several days of counting and recounting. If the outcome in Georgia is close again, as is likely, it could be a similar situation.

12:30am

Polls close in:

• West Virginia - 4 electoral votes
• Ohio - 17 electoral votes
• North Carolina - 16 electoral votes

While Ohio used to be seen as a swing state it is now likely to be taken by Mr Trump, while the state of North Carolina, traditionally Republican, is a key battleground in this election and could go either way. It could be a while before a winner is declared if the contest is too close to call.

1am

Polls close in:

• Connecticut - 7 electoral votes
• Delaware - 3 electoral votes
• Illinois - 19 electoral votes
• Maryland - 10 electoral votes
• Massachusetts - 11 electoral votes
• New Hampshire - 4 electoral votes
• New Jersey - 14 electoral votes
• Rhode Island - 4 electoral votes
• District of Columbia - 3 electoral votes
• Alabama - 9 electoral votes
• Florida - 30 electoral votes
• Mississippi - 6 electoral votes
• Missouri - 10 electoral votes
• Oklahoma - 7 electoral votes
• Tennessee - 11 electoral votes
• Maine - 4 electoral votes
• Pennsylvania - 19 electoral votes

Maine is one of two states that does not have a winner-take-all policy for its four electoral votes. The state allocates two votes to the winner within each of its two Congressional districts and two to the winner of the overall state-wide popular vote.

Pennsylvania is likely to be the most closely watched contest of this election as it is the swing state that holds the most electoral votes. The state was solidly Democrat until Mr Trump won it narrowly in 2016, before Mr Biden took it back in 2020.

Due to the huge number of postal and early votes cast, which will need to be sorted and counted, the outcome in Pennsylvania is not likely to be known for some considerable time.

1:30am

Polls close in:

• Arkansas - 6 electoral votes

2am

Polls close in:

• Kansas - 6 electoral votes
• Iowa - 6 electoral votes
• Louisiana - 8 electoral votes
• North Dakota - 3 electoral votes
• South Dakota - 3 electoral votes
• Texas - 40 electoral votes
• Wyoming - 3 electoral votes
• Colorado - 10 electoral votes
• Minnesota - 10 electoral votes
• New Mexico - 5 electoral votes
• New York - 28 electoral votes
• Nebraska - 5 electoral votes
• Arizona - 11 electoral votes
• Michigan - 15 electoral votes
• Wisconsin - 10 electoral votes

Nebraska, like Maine, does not have a winner-take-all policy and instead splits its electoral votes. The state allocates three votes to the winner within each of its three Congressional districts and two to the winner of the overall state-wide popular vote.

There are three swing states to watch here - Arizona, Wisconsin and Michigan - where Mr Trump spent the final hours of his campaign. Mr Biden won all three of these states in 2020, while Mr Trump picked up all three in 2016.

3am

Polls close in:

• Montana - 4 electoral votes
• Utah - 6 electoral votes
• Nevada - 6 electoral votes

Nevada is the last of the swing states to finish voting, but as it's a knife-edge contest it may take a while for a winner to be declared.

4am

Polls close in:

• California - 54 electoral votes
• Oregon - 8 electoral votes
• Washington - 12 electoral votes
• Idaho - 4 electoral votes

5am

Polls close in:

• Hawaii - 4 electoral votes

6am

Polls close in:

• Alaska - 3 electoral votes

Despite all the polls closing by this time, there is every likelihood that the overall winner of the election still won’t be known. It is likely to take a long time to count ballots and swing states may not be called until the counting is done.

There may also be recounts to do, which could mean we don't know the actual result of the election for days - as was the case in 2020 when Mr Biden wasn't announced as the winner for Pennsylvania until Saturday.