Voters are heading to the polls in Germany, in an election which is being closely watched across Europe and in the United States.Polling stations opened their doors at 8am local time (7am UK), with exit polls released and counting set to begin as soon as voting closes at 6pm (5pm UK).

Four candidates are running to be Germany’s next leader: incumbent Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Friedrich Merz, current Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck, and Alice Weidel, of the far-right AfD.

Germany heads to the polls this Sunday for snap federal elections in a vote that will shape the course of the EU's largest member state and its biggest economy for the next four years. The incoming government will inherit an economy that has shrunk for two years in a row for the first time in decades,