NICOLA Sturgeon is to hold urgent talks with power-brokers from across the European Union in the coming days as part of a growing fight to keep Scotland in the EU.

The First Minister is due in Brussels the week after next to meet senior members of the European Commission and European Parliament to discuss options for continued EU membership.

Sturgeon said yesterday work was now under way on creating the legislation needed for a second independence referendum. Her comments came as more than two million people signed a petition in just 24-hours calling for a second EU referendum following the leave result. With the number of signatories still growing, it has already had more backing than any other on the parliamentary website ever.

Just 100,000 names were needed for Westminster to consider it for debate. It is likely to now be reviewed by the Petitions Committee on Tuesday.

The Scottish government is working on a meeting with Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, who Sturgeon met in June last year when she delivered a prophetic warning that Scotland would not accept being dragged out the EU against its will.

Sturgeon is also expected to meet former Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt, President of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe, which includes 70 of the 751 MEPs.

On Friday, Verhofstadt tweeted: “It's wrong that Scotland might be taken out of EU, when it voted to stay. Happy to discuss w. @NicolaSturgeon next time she's in [Brussels].”

Rural Economy Secretary Fergus Ewing will start the ball rolling in Luxembourg tomorrow by meeting EU ministers to voice the concerns of Scotland’s farming community.

Sturgeon’s charm offensive is designed to remind EU figures of the stark difference in the vote north and south the border on Thursday, when Scotland voted 62-38 to remain in the EU, while the UK as a whole voted 52-48 to leave.

It is also intended to build alliances with the states who would ultimately decide whether an independent Scotland was allowed to join the EU and on what terms.

SNP sources last night said there had been an outpouring of private support from MEPs and officials for Scotland’s desire to remain part of the European project.

European leaders yesterday urged the UK to activate the Article 50 process which starts a two-year countdown to Brexit, saying they did not want any delays.

After a meeting in Berlin of the EU’s six founder nations - Germany, France, Italy, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands - German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said: “This process should get underway as soon as possible so we are not left in limbo but rather can concentrate on the future of Europe.”

His Dutch counterpart Bert Koenders added: “This will not be business as usual”.

The hardball continues on Tuesday, when David Cameron, who made an anguished, silent appearance at an Armed Forces parade in Cleethorpes yesterday, discusses Brexit with the heads of the other 27 EU states at a meeting of the European Council in Brussels.

The 27 will then meet again “informally” on Wednesday without the Prime Minister to discuss what Council President Donald Tusk called the “divorce process”.

However German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Cameron’s ally in his reform deal with the EU in February, struck a more conciliatory tone, calling for an “objective, good” climate for the talks.

Details of Sturgeon’s trip emerged after she held an emergency cabinet yesterday to discuss the implications of Brexit and the possibility of a second independence referendum.

Speaking outside Bute House, she announced she was seeking “immediate discussions” with Brussels to “protect Scotland’s place in the EU”, and was establishing her own expert panel to advise her on the legal, financial and diplomatic dimensions.

She will also host a summit of European consul generals next month to underline the SNP's continued welcoming approach to EU citizens in Scotland.

Repeating her message that a second independence referendum was “highly likely”, she said work was now underway on the necessary legislation.

Aiming to build cross-party support for her EU mission, she said: “The cabinet expressed its pride in the vote in Scotland, the emphatic vote in Scotland, to remain in the European Union.

“The Cabinet also shared the deep disappointment at the UK-wide result that is clearly felt by a majority of people across this country.

"We are determined to act decisively but in a way that builds unity across Scotland about the way forward.”

Promising not to take her eye off the day-to-day business, she added: “As Westminster is engulfed in political turmoil and as a vacuum of leadership develops, I want to make clear that Scotland is led by a stable and effective government.

“We are also determined to continue our work to further improve our schools, our hospitals and economy.”

Sturgeon will today take part in a round of TV interviews about the consequences of Brexit.

She is expected to admit she does not yet have answers about the currency, economy or borders of an independent Scotland, pointing out the Brexiteers have forced Indyref2 back up the agenda and she is now trying to fix their mess.

Leave campaigners have already backed away from two of their key pledges - to divert £350m a week from Brussels to the NHS and curb immigration - since Thursday’s vote.

In a further sign of the political upheaval caused by Brexit, Scottish Labour yesterday softened its opposition to a second referendum, and said it would now consider “all options”.

But Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson said a second referendum meant more instability for the country.

She said: “The priority should be stabilising the economy, reassuring Scotland's businesses and protecting jobs, not promising a further layer of economic upheaval."

The UK’s EU Commissioner Lord Hill announced his resignation yesterday, saying he was “very disappointed” by Brexit.

His role overseeing financial services will be taken over next month by Latvia’s Valdis Dombrovskis, currently Commissioner for the euro.