Nicola Sturgeon said she is determined to prevent Scotland being "shafted" by Brexit as she met with UK opposition parties in London.

The First Minister said it was time to "put party interests aside" as she conferred with Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn as well as representatives from the Lib Dems, Greens and Plaid Cymru.

She argued the UK is in an "emergency situation" and said it was the duty of the opposition to "find a better way forward".

Ms Sturgeon told STV: "The UK government is imploding, it looks like it's lost its majority with the DUP deserting it, and of course there is widespread disquiet and dissatisfaction with the deal the Prime Minister has brought back from Brussels.

"That's why I'm here in London today, to put party political interests aside and see if we can bring the opposition parties together behind a better way forward.

"I've had talks today with the Liberals, Greens, Plaid Cymru, and separately with Jeremy Corbyn. There's still work to do, but we are all agreed that this deal is not a good deal, it's not in the interests of the UK and it's certainly not in the interests of Scotland.

"No deal isn't an option either, and we shouldn't allow the Prime Minister - who's spent the last two years saying no deal is better than a bad deal - to say a bad deal has to be accepted to avoid no deal."

The First Minister said the next stage of discussions will centre on what form any "alternative options" should take.

"I've been very clear about what I think the options are - single market and customs union membership, possibly another vote," she said.

"It's in the wider public interest that this current chaos and shambles that the Tories are presiding over isn't allowed to continue."

Ms Sturgeon admitted finding an alternative to Ms May's draft deal would be "challenging".

She added: "But I want to play my part, and the SNP to play its part, in being grown-up and responsible to try to find a better, more sensible way forward.

"If the opposition cannot assert its authority here, if the House of Commons cannot assert its authority, the message will be that Westminster democracy is even more broken and dysfunctional than any of us thought it was.

"But there is an obligation on all of us to be responsible and to try."

Asked whether she would support another general election, which is Labour's preferred option, Ms Sturgeon said: "We would relish that prospect. If there is a way of bring this government - the most incompetent government of my lifetime - down, we would want to be a part of that.

"It's not immediately clear to me how we would get from here to there, but of course we will be open to discussions on that."

However, she argued, a general election is not the only option that could be tabled.

"There are other options," she said. "A vote on the EU question, given that whatever people voted for in 2016, they did not vote for this shambles and things have fundamentally changed.

"Or the single market, customs union option that we have consistently been arguing for the past two years as the most sensible compromise.

"We were against no-deal in the days when (Scottish secretary) David Mundell and his boss the Prime Minister said that that was actually a better option than a bad deal and we're still against a no-deal now that the Tories say it would be a catastrophic option.

"We've been consistent on this: no-deal is not an option. As opposition parties, we now have to step up to the plate and find a better option."

Despite the ongoing uncertainty, Ms Sturgeon said her primary objective remained unchanged.

"What I'm determined doesn't happen is that Scotland's interests are completely shafted," she said.

The First Minister told STV: "The last two years have been deeply frustrating.

"The Scottish Government has been ignored, our compromise suggestions have been cast aside, our interests have been sidelined, the powers of the Scottish Parliament have been downgraded.

"And now we face being taken out of the EU against our will, taken out of the single market against our economic interests and put at an economic disadvantage with Northern Ireland.

"I'm determined that Scotland's interests are not simply going to be cast aside."