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Millions of Britons turned their eyes to the skies for the best solar eclipse in decades – with crowds flocking to viewing events and shops selling out of protective glasses.
One couple even planned their wedding a year in advance, timing it to coincide with the event.
More than 90% of the Sun was obscured by the Moon, the most it has been blocked above UK skies since the total eclipse in 1999.
Crowds of people could be seen at viewing spots in different locations – including the Royal Observatory Greenwich, London, Stonehenge in Wiltshire, Calton Hill, Edinburgh, and outside Queen’s University in Belfast.
People could be seen with special glasses, and homemade viewers made from cereal boxes and colanders.
Others brought their own chairs, while photographers could be seen with cameras.
Footage shared on social media showed a long queue of people in Goring, West Sussex, appearing to wait for glasses being handed out to view the eclipse.
Gasps of “wow,” “oh my god” and “this is so cool” were uttered by skywatchers at Greenwich Park, south-east London, as the event took place.
Veronica Orozco popped a champagne cork as she sat watching the eclipse with her neighbours in Greenwich Park, as stone’s throw from their home.
Ms Orozco, who is originally from Venezuela, said: “It is my second solar eclipse. I was in Venezuela and I was young and I thought that the Sun would not come back. My dad said ‘it is science, of course it will come back.’
“Now sitting here at the age of 41, it is still magical. I am sitting here with my neighbours and we have been telling each other ‘Happy Eclipse Day’.”
Thousands gathered on Crosby beach in Merseyside, and as the eclipse reached its peak, The Beatles’ Here Comes The Sun was played by a DJ who was stationed on top of a bus at an outdoor bar and street-food venue The Bus Yard.
Hundreds of people were at Cardiff Bay barrage with heavy traffic in the Penarth area as people tried to make it in time for the peak of the event.
Jerry and Jamie Bone, aged 30 and 25 respectively, had planned their wedding at Alpheton in Suffolk for over a year so that they could get married on the day of the eclipse.
