Edinburgh, Jun 24 (IANS): Scotland looks set to vote in favour of Britain staying in the European Union (EU) - with every council area so far backing 'Remain', BBC reported.

With 27 of the 32 council areas in Scotland having declared early Friday, 'Remain' was on 62 per cent and 'Leave' 38 per cent north of the border.

Glasgow voted by 168,335 (67 per cent) to 84,474 (33 per cent) in favour of 'Remain', although turnout was relatively low.

Moray has seen the closest result in Scotland so far, with 'Remain' finishing just 119 votes ahead of 'Leave'.

But there were big wins for 'Remain' in heavily-populated areas such as Aberdeen, Dundee, North Lanarkshire, South Lanarkshire, Fife and West Lothian.

Orkney became the first Scottish area to declare its result at about 12.05 a.m., with 'Remain' winning 7,189 votes (63 per cent) and 'Leave' on 4,193 (37 per cent). Turnout was 68.4 per cent.

It was followed by Clackmannanshire, which backed 'Remain' by 58 per cent to 42 per cent. A majority of voters in Shetland, the Western Isles and the Scottish Borders also backed 'Remain'.

But results in England and Wales have generally been much better for 'Leave' so far, with the race across Britain neck-and-neck.

The referendum will be decided purely on whether 'Leave' or 'Remain' receives the most votes across the country.

About 46.5 million people were registered to vote on Thursday - including four million in Scotland - in what is the third nationwide referendum in Britain's history.

Opinion polls published ahead of the referendum suggested the race was too close to call, although most showed 'Remain' holding a slight lead on the eve of the vote.