Millions of people across Europe have defied
gloomy weather forecasts to watch a solar
eclipse cast its shadow across the continent.
Some lucky observers in Britain got to
experience the full extent of the event as the
moon crossed in front of the sun, covering up to
97% of its face.
One of the best vantage points was in South
Gloucestershire, where amateur astronomer
Ralph Wilkins described the "eerie" feeling as a
chilly gloom descended and shadows
sharpened.
Elsewhere there were reports of birds "going
crazy" and flocking to trees, confused by the
fading light.
Skywatchers in Newquay, Cornwall, got a clear
view of first contact as the moon cut across the
Sun at 8.20am, shortly after observers in Spain
saw the eclipse begin.
As the spectacle began, astronomer Tom Kerss
told Sky News: "You're seeing the Moon's
rugged mountainous and valleyed surface
starting to cut into the face of the Sun. That will
just grow and cut more of the Sun away."
First contact in London was visible at 8.47am,
with a large crowd of enthusiasts choosing the
Royal Observatory at Greenwich as the ideal
spot to watch as the Sun was partially obscured.
Members of the public and commuters who
might have caught sight of the eclipse on the
way to work had been warned that looking
directly at the Sun could seriously damage their
eyesight.
Despite fears that cloud cover could ruin the
event, there were good views in many areas,
from the South West to London, Lincolnshire and
the Isle of Lewis in Scotland.
But some were left disappointed, including in
cloudy Eastbourne, Glasgow, Bristol and
Sheffield.
Twitter user @RGGoldie wrote from Jersey: "So
cloudy I can't even tell where the sun is right
now."
Even in gloomy areas darker skies and a slight
drop in temperature were experienced during
the event that will not be seen again in the UK
until 2026.
It was the deepest solar eclipse shadow to fall
across Britain since 1999.
The Faroe Islands and the Norwegian
archipelago of Svalbard in the North Atlantic
were the only places to get a total eclipse.
There were clouds in the Faroes, where Jill and
Valerie Lucas, who travelled from Pennsylvania
in the US to watch the eclipse, told Sky's Senior
Correspondent Ian Woods: "This is a thrill in
itself, to be this dark at nine o'clock in the
morning - it's like nine o'clock at night."
But moments later there were gasps from the
delighted crowd when the Sun broke through
the darkness of total obscuration at 9.42am.
Around the UK, the proportion of the sun
covered by the moon increased towards the
north, ranging from 84% in London to 89% in
Manchester, 93% in Edinburgh and 97% in
Lerwick in the Shetland Isles.
:: London
The partial phase of the eclipse commenced at
8.25am. One hour and six minutes later at
9.31am the maximum eclipse occurred with 85%
of the Sun blocked out. The event ended at
10.41am.
:: Manchester
Viewers in the northwest saw 90% of the Sun
obscured. The event began at 8.27am, and
reached maximum coverage at 9.32am. It lasted
two hours and fifteen minutes finished at
10.42am.
:: Belfast
The event began a minute later than London at
8.26am and lasted two hours and 13 minutes,
ending at 10.39am. The eclipse reached
maximum coverage at 9.31am when 95% of the
Sun was obscured.
:: Scotland
Further north, eclipse watchers enjoyed a
slightly better show. Viewers in Edinburgh saw
93% of the Sun covered and from Lerwick in the
Shetland Isles, the Moon obscured 97% of the
solar disk.
:: Aberystwyth
Viewers watched the eclipse from 8.24am and
the event lasted a total of two hours and 14
minutes. The event reached maximum at 9.29am
when 90% of the Sun was obscured.
Despite the excitement, Robin Scagell, vice-
president of the Society for Popular Astronomy,
warned the event could become memorable for
the wrong reasons if observers failed to heed
warnings of the dangers.
"This one takes place right in the middle of the
rush-hour," he said. "It's not the best time from
a safety point of view.
"A partial eclipse is more risky by far than a
total eclipse because people don't realise that
even looking at a thin sliver of sun is
dangerous. It's absolutely true that there is a
serious risk to people's eyesight.
"If people can't find a way to view the eclipse
correctly then they shouldn't look because
they're likely to damage their eyes."
A tourist visiting Norway for the eclipse has
described the terrifying moment a polar bear
dragged him out of his tent as he slept. Check out the pictures 'www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/in-pictures-solar-eclipse-casts-shadow-across-europe/ss-BBitoxz?parent-title=eerie-solar-eclipse-casts-shadow-across-europe&parent-ns=ar&parent-content-id=BBitcCd&fullscreen=true' hurry up the pictures are being deleted. Please place ur comments.