The 'No' campaign is comfortably ahead in Scotland's independence referendum

With 24 out of 32 local government areas now reporting their votes, the Yes side has 1,102,788 votes, for only 45.8 percent, compared to the No campaign at 1,305,388 votes, for 54.2 percent.

The areas that have reported have spanned a number of rural areas, all the way up to the biggest city of Glasgow, and a great variety of towns and smaller cities in between.

As an important point: The Scottish Nationalists have already won a victory in Glasgow, at 53.5 percent — but with a margin of only about +25,000 votes there, it barely made a dent in the No lead nationwide. The bottom line: The Yes side is clearly running out of areas to make up their disadvantage.