The Republican Party is set to take control of the Senate, according to a projection from the BBC's US partner CBS.

There are still lots of races being counted, but it looks clear that the Democrats will lose their effective majority of just one.

The Democrats were hoping to take a Republican seat to limit the expected damage in West Virginia but, according to a projection, have failed to unseat Ted Cruz in Texas, which was one of the party's key targets.

• You can read more about why this Senate election matters here.

If this goes Trump's way, it will be an extraordinary political achievementpublished at 06:11 Greenwich Mean Time

06:11 GMT

published at 15:11

15:11

Gary O'Donoghue
Reporting from Trump's watch party

It will be interesting see the nature of speeches Donald Trump and JD Vance give and what exactly they will claim and say about the votes still to be counted.

It's worth thinking about, if this is going the way we think it's going - Donald Trump's way, then we really have to think about the scale of what that achievement would amount to.

This is a man who is 78 years old, facing four criminal cases (one he has been convicted in and is due to be sentenced in three weeks time), a whole bunch of civil cases, insulted a whole string of demographics and countless scandals over the last eight years.

Getting back into the White House for a second term is an extraordinary and mind-blowing achievement in political terms.

Nadine Yousif
Reporting from Washington, DC

It's now after 01:00 in the eastern US, meaning morning has dawned for our readers in the UK.

If you're across the pond and just waking up, here's a quick recap of what you missed overnight:

• North Carolina and Georgia have been called for Donald Trump. The remaining five battleground states have yet to be called
• The mood among Trump supporters is increasingly joyous, and has become muted among Harris supporters

• The other states that have been called have fallen in line with historic voting patterns, with Harris wining Democratic strongholds like California and Trump wining reliable Republican states like Texas

• In the Senate races, Republican Ted Cruz of Texas has managed to hold onto his seat, while Republican Bernie Moreno has unseated the incumbent Democratic candidate Sherrod Brown

• In Florida, a ballot measure to enshrine a constitutional right to abortion before foetal viability did not pass, failing to get the 60% of votes needed

Sam Hancock
Live page editor

Well, there we have it. All polls in this year’s US presidential election have now closed - the last to do so were in Alaska and Hawaii.

If you’ve been following the action through the night, you’ll know that the current projections have Republican Donald Trump on 246 electoral college votes and Democrat Kamala Harris on 187. A candidate needs 270 to win the White House.

So far, two swing states have been projected - North Carolina and Georgia - and both have gone to Trump. There are five more battlegrounds still to be called, though early projections suggest Trump is ahead in all of them. Remember, these are the areas that experts believe can plausibly be won by either Harris or Trump, and so will likely decide the result.

We have reporters on the ground across the US who are bringing us regular updates from watch parties. Democratic donors and strategists are telling the BBC's Ione Wells, in Michigan, that they're feeling "very pessimistic". Meanwhile, Nada Tawfik reports there being a sense of "excitement and purpose" among Trump’s camp in Florida.

Image source, Reuters

Donald Trump is expected to arrive shortly at his campaign watch party in West Palm Beach, Florida, where he is expected to speak.

Among those in the room are Elon Musk, who has campaigned heavily for Trump, as well as political allies Robert F Kennedy Jr and Tulsi Gabbard.

Our correspondents are reporting that supporters have started also to gather outside, hoping to catch a glimpse of Trump's motorcade as he makes his way in.

Stay with us as we bring you the latest from inside the room.

Holly Honderich
Reporting from Kamala Harris's watch party in Washington, DC

Image source, Holly Honderich / BBC

About 30 minutes ago, this field in the centre of Howard University was packed with Kamala Harris supporters ready to celebrate.

But with the projected calls out of North Carolina and Georgia, the venue for Harris’s election night party suddenly feels a lot less like a celebration.

Hundreds of supporters are streaming out, most now declining to speak to media as the probability of a Harris win seems to have slipped away.

Harris is also not expected to speak at her own watch party.

Cai Pigliucci
Reporting from Washington DC

Image source, Reuters

The crowd has all but disappeared here at Harris HQ after it was just announced by a senior member of the campaign that Harris will not be appearing tonight.

The mood has steadily lowered as two swing states were called for Trump on the big screen, and now it’s nearly empty in here.

The party-like atmosphere from a few hours ago has turned sour as Harris’ chances have dimmed in mere hours.

Images are coming in of jubilant Donald Trump supporters, celebrating in parts of the US as their pick for president pulls ahead in the projected results.

Some are wearing Maga (Make America Great Again - Trump's campaign slogan) caps, others are shrouded in the American flag.

Here's a look:

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Reuters

Let's check in with the atmosphere with the Kamala Harris HQ in Washington DC where Lindy Li, who is a Philadelphia-based Democratic fundraiser, tells the BBC that it is "pretty grim right now".

"People are getting increasingly anxious, but there is still a pathway. I am still holding on to that, but this is not the night we wanted."

Li lists three points which have given her concern, including the economy and levels of inflation, immigration issues and Joe Biden only giving Kamala Harris 107 days to campaign.

"It's not over until it is over," Li adds.

By Anthony Zurcher, North America correspondent

The US presidential election is far from decided, but the playing field appears to be steadily tilting toward Donald Trump.

The Republican has now won the swing state of Georgia, following his projected victory in North Carolina.

The electoral map is beginning to look more like 2016, when Trump won, than 2020, when he lost.

Across the US, in counties that have reported their results, the former president is making modest but noticeable headway.

Kamala Harris is largely matching Joe Biden’s totals in the urban and suburban counties, but so far it has not been enough for her to close the gap with the former president.

Watch the moment it was projected below:

Kayla Epstein
Reporting from Florida

Image source, BBC News

As results continue to come in, more and more of Trump’s supporters are gathering outside the convention centre in West Palm Beach, Florida, where he will hold his election night party.

A large crowd is lining the boulevard waiting for a possible glimpse of Trump’s motorcade. Police have partially shut down the roads, a sign Trump might be coming through soon.

Brenda Murua, 50, was one of the supporters waiting on the sidewalk. She was bouncing with excitement as she watched results come in. She had been there for over an hour.

"I was like oh, I have to be here to support him!" Murua said. "I can wait longer, as long as he wins."

Holly Honderich
Reporting from Kamala Harris's watch party in Washington, DC

Image source, Reuters

As the first swing states are called for Donald Trump, the energy at Howard University has begun to shift.

After hours of apparent optimism, dancing and singing to Usher, Kendrick Lamar and Beyoncé, the supporters gathered at Harris’s election night party are starting to show their nerves.

"I know there are a lot of worries with the numbers right now," said Howard student Jordan Newsom soon after North Carolina was projected for Trump. But Newsom said his fellow supporters were doing their best to keep the mood up.

"The best we can do is unite and keep the faith amongst ourselves."

Image source, Reuters

Brandon Drenon
Reporting from North Carolina

The Democratic North Carolina watch party in Raleigh has ended.

The music has stopped. Bartenders are packing up their things.

The fraction of the crowd that remains is carrying mixed emotions, glad to see three major Democratic candidates win here - governor, lieutenant governor, and attorney general - but dejected by Kamala Harris’s apparent defeat in the state.

“It’s hard. I’m sad,” Saira Estrada tells me.

“I don’t know if I can live through another Trump era.”

By Anthony Zurcher, North America correspondent

With incumbent Senator Sherrod Brown defeated in Ohio, Democratic odds of retaining control of the Senate are dwindling.

The party has lost two seats, with a third – Jon Tester in Montana – at great risk. Without a Democratic pick-up somewhere else, the chamber will flip to the Republicans.

At this point, it’s hard to find a race where Democrats have much hope.

Florida and Texas, the two races that were remotely competitive, are already off the table. Independent Dan Osborne narrowly trails incumbent Republican Deb Fischer in Nebraska with 69% reporting. It’s not even clear, however, whether Osborne would join with Democrats in the Senate if he prevails.

And if Donald Trump wins the presidency, with Vice-President JD Vance casting a tie-breaking vote in the Senate, it won’t matter what happens in Nebraska.

It is shaping up to be a very good night for Republicans.

The Republicans are on course to take Ohio from the Democrats, dealing a hammer blow to the party's chances of holding on to their fragile majority in the Senate.

CBS has projected Bernie Moreno will unseat Sherrod Brown, a veteran senator who has represented the state in the Senate since 2007 and who drew his main support base from organised labour.

The race is believed to have been the most expensive in Senate history.

Brown has told supporters the result is a "disappointment but not a failure", adding "I'm not giving up on our fight for workers and I know you won't either".

The win is projected to be the second Republican pickup in the Senate races tonight after they took West Virginia.

That means that, as it stands, the party is on course to take control of the Senate - unless the Democrats can flip a state.