What happened in the US election overnight and who is winning

Donald Trump appeared to see an early surge in the US election as polls closed across the country on Tuesday night.

The Republican candidate inched ahead in the early hours of the night after holding on to red states including Florida, Texas and Alabama. He outnumbered rival Kamala Harris who did pick up Democrat strongholds including New York and Illinois.

Earlier in the night there had been no major surprises until Trump was projected as winner of swing state North Carolina shortly before 5am, UK time. An hour later he was projected to win Georgia.

As of 6am the remaining battleground states of Pennsylvania, Arizona, Nevada, Wisconsin and Michigan had yet to be declared.

READ MORE: US election 2024 LIVE updates as America decides between Trump and Harris

It is these states that will decide the election.

Under the US voting system, a total of 270 votes in the college are needed to win the presidency. As it stood as of 6am Trump had a projected 243 votes in the electoral college, and Ms Harris 182, according to the BBC projections.

Here is everything that happened overnight in the US election while you were in bed.

What happened overnight?

Earlier in the evening a series of bomb threats were made against a number of US election polling places in battleground states.

They appeared to have originated from Russian email domains and have been found to be a hoax, according to the FBI.

The bomb threats in parts of Arizona, Georgia and Pennsylvania forced evacuations and some polling places to extend hours. Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro confirmed there had been multiple bomb threats but said there had been "no credible threat" to the public.

The first polling stations closed in Indiana, Kentucky, South Carolina, Vermont, West Virginia and the key swing state of Georiga at midnight UK time.

Almost immediately the first results were declared with the the Democrat stronghold of Vermont projected for Harris. Meanwhile, the Red states of Indiana, Kentucky and West Virginia were called for Trump.

At 1am polling closed in 16 states including in the key battleground state of Pennsylvania. After polling closed in these states Trump was projected to win Alabama, Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Florida.

Florida used to be a swing state but has been consistently Republican in the past few elections - the last time a Democratic nominee won the state was Barack Obama in 2008. Shortly after South Carolina was projected for the former president.

Meanwhile, The District of Columbia, Maryland, and Massachusetts were called for Harris.

At this stage of the night, there had been no surprises as all the states that had been declared were seen as strongholds for the party they voted for.

At 1.30am polls closed in the solid red state of Arkansas which was immediately projected as a Trump win.

Half an hour later polling ended in 15 more states including in the swing states of Arizona, Michigan and Wisconsin. Trump was immediately projected to win Texas, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming.

The Democrat strongholds of Delaware and New York were then called for Harris.

At 3am polling ended in Montana, Utah and Nevada. While the former two states were quickly called for Trump, Nevada is another one of the seven swing states and was still too early to call.

The next state to be called was the state of Colorado which was projected for Harris. By this time we saw more states being called at a quicker pace with Kansas, Iowa and Ohio called for Trump.

At this stage of the night Trump appeared to be looking comfortable with 207 votes to Harris' 91. The betting market also backed the former president, with Trump 1/6 favourite to win the election by 3.15am - an implied probability of 81.1%.

At 4am polling closed in the West Coast states, including California and Oregon which were then projected for Harris.

Just before 5am Harris' path to the White House appeared to narrow as Trump won the first swing state of the election - and was projected to win North Carolina.

It got worse for Democrats as Republicans then won a majority in the US Senate, seizing control of the chamber for the first time in four years.

The momentum continued for the Trump campaign as he was announced as the projected winner of Georgia just after 5.30am.

Democrats watched their efforts to salvage their slim majority slip out of reach as tallies rolled in across a map that favoured Republicans.

Early in the night, Republicans flipped one seat in West Virginia, with the election of Jim Justice, who easily replaced retiring Senator Joe Manchin.

The outcome of the US election will have a sweeping impact on global politics, including in the UK where Sir Keir Starmer’s Government may have to grapple with upheaval in America’s security and defence approach if Mr Trump wins.

We should have a better understanding of where it will end later on Wendesday.