Both the BBC and The Sun newspaper received information from government sources at about 8 pm on Wednesday evening that an agreement will take a while.
"No agreement tonight," the BBC's political editor Laura Kuenssberg wrote on Twitter.
"Everyone will work into the night, but there will be no settlement tonight," wrote The Sun's Tom Newton Dunn.
About the same time, EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier sat down to inform the 27 remaining EU ambassadors in Brussels about the situation.
According to the Irish television channel RTE, the parties had then agreed on all the disputes, except for the important issue of how VAT should be included on different pages about the tariff limits that Brexit brought.
"Could be worse"Negotiations have become increasingly intense since the end of last week. Positive statements were heard from the EU side on Wednesday.
"Theoretically, within seven to eight hours, everything can be clear," EU Permanent Council President Donald Tusk told Polish TV channel TVN 24 on Wednesday afternoon, according to Reuters.
- Changes are still being made and the basic parts of this agreement are clear, and theoretically we can agree on an agreement tomorrow.
In France, President Emmanuel Macron welcomed Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel and the two EU heavyweights further increased the pressure on Brexit negotiators during a joint press conference in the evening.
"I want to think that an agreement is being finalized and that we will be able to approve it tomorrow," Macron told Reuters.
- The news we get from Brussels could be worse, Merkel filled in.