It was a remarkable night for Europe’s Greens. They made dramatic gains, and across large parts of the continent it was they who held off the challenge from the populist Right, as the traditional centre parties saw their vote shrink.

In Germany, the Greens doubled their vote to become the second largest party. In Ireland, they look set to finish in equal second place. In France and Belgium, they were third. In Austria and the Netherlands, they are set to finish in the double digits. In the UK, they are ahead of the Tories.

Overall, they are set to gain as many as 20 seats to become the fourth biggest bloc in the European parliament.

A Green surge should perhaps come as no surprise in the wake of climate protests and the school strikes movement of Greta Thunberg.

But it was striking that attempts by the traditional mainstream parties to embrace green issues in the run-up to the election failed to convince voters.

In France, Emmanuel Macron’s bid to wrap himself in the green mantle in order to see off the challenge from Marine Le Pen appeared to fall flat.