Millions Across Europe Watch Rare Solar Eclipse

An eclipse happens when the Moon passes between the Sun and Earth and throws a shadow onto our planet. Whether people see a partial or a total eclipse depends on how exactly the three line up. Totality is only possible because of a remarkable coincidence. The Sun is about 150 million kilometres (93 million miles) away, roughly 400 times further from us than the Moon, but it is also about 400 times wider. As a result, the two look almost the same size. Before the event, eclipse glasses sold out in shops and online, and some even appeared in a London bakery. Many people used colanders, cereal boxes and pieces of paper instead.

Crowds gathered on hilltops and at famous landmarks, including Calton Hill in Edinburgh, reacting with gasps and cheers. Skies were clear across much of southern England and Wales, but cloud spoiled the view in Scotland. Yasmin Catricheo, a Chilean scientist who travelled thousands of miles to Spain, said no words could describe the feeling. A total eclipse happens somewhere on Earth about every 18 months, but returns to one place only about once in 400 years. The United Kingdom will not see a fuller eclipse until 2081.