Brexit deal is getting closer, says Juncker!

• "the rapprochement potential between both sides has increased in recent days," Juncker said.

The chances of Britain and the European Union striking a Brexit deal on their divorce are rising, one of the bloc's leaders said, amid reports the two sides are moving closer on the fraught issue of the Irish border.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker told three Austrian newspapers in comments published on Saturday that "the rapprochement potential between both sides has increased in recent days".Negotiations faltered after the EU said last month that British PM Theresa May's proposal for post-Brexit economic relations was unacceptable. The two sides spent days trading bad-tempered barbs, with EU leaders demanding an apology after British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt compared the bloc to the Soviet Union.

But officials have been meeting behind the scenes before a key summit in Brussels on October 17 and 18. EU leaders say there needs to be major progress at the meeting for there to be a deal before Britain leaves the bloc on March 29.

The main obstacle is ensuring there are no customs posts or border checks along the frontier between the UK's Northern Ireland and EU member Ireland.