A fundraising appeal for children's charity Unicef made during the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games has reached £3.1 million.

More than half a million people in the UK responded after watching an appeal by James McAvoy and Sir Chris Hoy at Celtic Park in Glasgow.

A total of 595,000 people have made donations by text alone, Unicef UK said, with many more contributing online.

The charity announced the new total on their Twitter feed, tweeting: "A new day and a new total - £3.1 MILLION raised for children last night. Thank you so much for all your support and help to #putchildrenfirst".

During the ceremony, actor McAvoy said: ''This has never been done before - this many people in a single moment all coming together to make a life-saving difference to millions of children.''

Sir Chris said: ''Let's make history together.''

Figures from other territories and online donations are still being counted.

Earlier in the show, Unicef ambassador Ewan McGregor burst into the opening countdown to urge viewers to be ready to take time to think about children across the Commonwealth.

During the event, video messages from celebrities including former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson and singer Nicole Scherzinger highlighting the importance of Unicef's work were shown.

The money will be added to the £1.2 million already raised for the partnership between Unicef, Glasgow 2014 and the Commonwealth Games Federation before the ceremony.

To donate £5, text FIRST to 70333.