UK PM Theresa May given cold shoulder at Brussels EU summit

UK Prime Minister Theresa May. Photo / Getty Images

An "awkward" video of Theresa May at the EU summit has emerged in which the Prime Minister appears to be being ignored by other attendees.

Video tweeted by journalists covering Thursday morning's event in Brussels shows Mrs May having to fidget while her European counterparts greet each other warmly and chat.

One BBC journalist labelled it "Brexit, in a single shot" - the PM has also not been invited to this evening's end-of-year dinner.

The 28 leaders have gathered in the Belgian capital to discuss migrants, Turkey, Russia and Donald Trump, and mostly hugged, with the exception of the PM.

One Twitter user replied to BBC Home Affairs correspondent Daniel Sandford, saying the other people attending the summit were behaving like "a bunch of children in the playground".

However, the journalist conceded it wasn't "all bad" for Theresa May, posting a video in which she is talking and smiling.

This evening's dinner will not be the first occasion Mrs May has been treated coolly by her 27 European counterparts since she succeeded David Cameron.

In October, she dined with other EU leaders, and was invited to set out Britain's position on Brexit, but was made to wait until "long after the waiters were waiting to clear the dishes away", one observer said.

Brexit, in a single shot. This morning at the EU summit. pic.twitter.com/1WlKeekRQy

— Daniel Sandford (@BBCDanielS) December 15, 2016

Key Brexit dates:

• January 2017: Supreme Court expected to deliver its ruling on whether Theresa May has the power to trigger Article 50 using a royal prerogative, rather than by an Act of Parliament.

• March 31, 2017: Deadline Mrs May has set for invoking Article 50 by notifying the European Council of Britain's intention to leave the EU.

• September 30, 2018: Date by which EU's chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, wants to wrap up terms of Britain's exit from the Union.

• March 31, 2019: Date by which Theresa May wants to wrap up negotiations over Brexit.

• May 2019: Britain formally exits the EU, following ratification of Brexit by all other member states.