UKIP leader Nigel Farage has hailed early gains in council elections across England as "remarkable" for the party.
UKIP has won 42 seats so far and is averaging 26% of the vote in the wards where it is standing.
Mr Farage said it put his party in a "very strong position" in the run up to the next general election.
The Conservatives have lost control of two councils, but retained five others, while Labour made modest gains in the Midlands and the south of England.
Contests are taking place in 27 English county councils and seven unitary authorities, as well as in Anglesey. About 2,300 council seats are up for grabs in England, in a major mid-term test for the coalition government.
Most of the counts will take place later on Friday.
In other developments:
Tory strongholdsThe Conservatives had braced themselves for a tough night, with David Cameron admitting that voters liked to punish governing parties between general elections.
The Tories are defending thousands of seats last fought in 2009 - when they were in opposition and when Labour had its worst night in local election history.
How to watch the results
- There will be full live text and video coverage of the results as they come in on the BBC News website, including the BBC's Vote 2013 programme presented by Huw Edwards.
- This will also be broadcast throughout the day on the News Channel, and on BBC 2 from 12:00 BST to 13:00 BST, from 14:00 BST to 15:00 BST and from 17:00 BST to 18:00 BST.
Of the seven county councils to declare so far, the Tories retained control of traditional council strongholds Essex, Dorset, Hampshire and Hertfordshire, as well as Somerset.
But they lost their majorities on Gloucestershire and Lincolnshire county councils, which moved to no overall control, as both Labour and UKIP made gains.
Nearly 10,000 candidates were battling for seats in English county councils and unitary authorities - "top-tier" authorities in charge of schools, roads, refuse collection and fire and rescue among other services.
Labour is expected to claw back ground in the north of England and make some progress in the south. In an early success, it took a seat from the Conservatives in Dorset on a 12% swing but party strategists are playing down expectations of major gains.
UKIP surgeUKIP is riding high in the opinion polls and fielded more than 1,700 candidates - three times the number that stood in 2009, when the party won just seven council seats.
So far, the party has won 16 seats in Lincolnshire - where it is now the official opposition.
"Start Quote
End Quote Grant Shapps Conservative Party chairmanIt has not been a great night for any of the main parties"
The party, which campaigns for the UK to leave the European Union, has been polling 12 points higher, on average, than in wards where it stood in 2009.
UKIP's Nigel Farage told the BBC Radio 4's Today Programme that "the people who vote for us are rejecting the establishment and quite right too".
"Three parties, three fronts benches who look the same and sound the same and made up of people who basically have never had a job in the real world," he said.
"But are they voting UKIP just to stick two fingers up and to scream very loudly or are they voting UKIP because we're offering positive policy alternatives?"
"I don't think these votes are going away quickly," he added.
'Get the message'He said the results put UKIP in a "very strong position" in the run up to the next general election, but acknowledged that "when it comes to a general election we do have a problem, which is the first past the post election system".
Reacting to the results, Conservative Party co-chairman Grant Shapps said it had "not been a great night for any of the main parties".
"I do think we absolutely get the message," he told the BBC.
Pre-election controlling parties
- Conservative: 28
- No Overall Control: 6
- Labour: 1
"People want to see the economy fixed, welfare capped, help for hard-working people. We are starting to make progress in those areas... but there is much to do and that is what these results are really all about."
Labour deputy leader Harriet Harman said UKIP's rise was a "wake-up call" to other parties.
"We should listen very seriously if people are feeling disaffected and disenchanted," she said on the BBC's Question Time programme.
"It is a challenge to us, it's a wake-up call for us to actually listen to people who feel that times are hard and wonder whether any of us have actually got the answers."
Mayoral contestsThe Conservatives and Labour contested most local election seats, with 2,263 and 2,168 candidates respectively.
The Lib Dems had 1,763 candidates. UKIP fielded 1,745 candidates and the Greens had 893.
Other parties standing included the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition, which fought 120 seats, the BNP, with 99 candidates, and the English Democrats, with 38 candidates. There were about 900 independent candidates.
The result of the Doncaster mayoral contest will be known later on Friday. Incumbent Peter Davies is fighting for re-election as an independent after quitting the English Democrats.
Local council elections were also held in Anglesey, which is currently classified as no overall control but is dominated by independents.
No elections took place in London, Scotland, Northern Ireland or anywhere in Wales other than Anglesey.
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