Millions Watch Europe's Most Dramatic Eclipse in Decades

An eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between the Sun and Earth, casting a shadow onto the planet's surface; whether that shadow produces a partial or a total eclipse depends on how precisely the three bodies align. Totality is possible at all only because of an astronomical coincidence. The Sun lies about 150 million kilometres (93 million miles) away, some 400 times further from Earth than the Moon, yet its diameter is also roughly 400 times greater, so the two discs appear almost identical in the sky. Demand for protective eyewear outstripped supply beforehand, with shops and online retailers largely sold out and stock surfacing in unlikely places, including a central London bakery. Undeterred, many improvised with colanders, cereal boxes and pieces of paper.

Crowds gathered on hilltops and at famous landmarks, among them Calton Hill in Edinburgh, reacting with gasps and cheers. Skies were clear across much of central and southern England and Wales, though cloud frustrated watchers in Scotland and Northern Ireland. Yasmin Catricheo, a Chilean scientist who travelled thousands of miles to A Coruna in north-west Spain, said no words could describe the feeling and that everyone around her had cheered. Astronomers note that a total eclipse happens somewhere on Earth roughly every 18 months but returns to any given place only about once in 400 years. Three more are due worldwide between 2026 and 2028, none visible from the United Kingdom, which will see only about 45 percent coverage in some regions in 2027 and no fuller eclipse until 2081.