THE future of the UK may be on a knife edge as a new poll places support for Scottish independence at 52% - its highest for over three-and-a-half years.

The Panelbase poll puts Yes support at 52% - up five percentage points from a previous study.

The poll commissioned by the Scot Goes Pop blog with the help of a crowdfunder and conducted between January 28 and 31, also says that pro-independence parties are on course to take 57% of the seats at Holyrood at next year's elections.

The blog said the results of the poll were the "best result for Yes in any poll conducted by a member firm of the British Polling Council since the immediate aftermath of the EU referendum in the summer of 2016".

READ MORE: New poll on Scottish independence finds even split between Yes and No

Blogger James Kelly said it was a "particularly remarkable result" for a poll conducted by Panelbase, which was one of two pollsters that in 2017 and 2018 frequently reported a Yes vote that was a little below the 45% achieved in the 2014 referendum.

The Herald:

 It is the third poll in a matter of days that has shown at least half of Scotland now backs independence.

A Survation poll taken the week before Britain formally left the EU found a 50-50 split between those in favour of independence and those who would prefer to stay in the UK.

The poll of 1,019 Scots, commissioned by the nationalist think tank Progress Scotland, was conducted at about the same time as a YouGov survey that found a narrow majority for independence, at 51 per cent.

READ MORE: New poll on Scottish independence puts Yes ahead

But the Panelbase poll has revealed a greater support for independence than any of the recent surveys.

An average of the three polls would give Yes 51% support.

A poll of Scottish Parliament voting intention described by the blog as "even more sensational" indicates that the SNP would be heading for an overall majority in the forthcoming Scottish Parliamentary elections.

An analysis of the poll results creates a projection that would have the SNP on 67 seats (+4) leaving the other parties on 62. The Conservatives would have 32 seats (+1), Labour 17 (-7), Greens 7 (+1), Liberal Democrats 6 (+1).

SNP deputy leader Keith Brown welcomed the survey saying: "This is yet another poll, which shows support for independence continues to grow across Scotland and momentum for a fresh referendum is now unstoppable.

"Scotland has been dragged out of the EU against our will by a Tory government with no mandate here – a government which says ‘it doesn’t matter one jot’ what the Parliament the people of Scotland elect decides.

"The Tories are running scared of democracy but their opposition to a referendum is completely unsustainable. The more Boris Johnson seeks to deny people in Scotland the right to determine our future, the more support for independence will continue to grow."

Scottish Greens co-leader Patrick Harvie MSP added: “This is the second poll in the space of a week that shows majority support for independence.

"It’s clear that in the face of a Boris Johnson government determined to impose the hardest possible Brexit, more and more people are concluding that Scotland’s future must be as an independent European country.”