Eclipse of a generation: Millions of Brits dazzled by best solar eclipse since 1999
More than 90% of the sun was obscured by the Moon during the once-in-a-generation event.
Brits up and down the country are gathering to watch the skies for a once-in-a-generation solar eclipse.
Listen to this article
The most significant solar eclipse in almost 30 years has begun in the UK, and it's predicted that in London at least 90% of the Sun will be covered at the peak.
In some parts of the UK the eclipse is already underway, with parts of the sun already concealed in Sheffield.
With the Moon on path to move between the Sun and Earth in the unique event, this is said to be one of the greatest coverages in the UK since 1999.
In London, 91.34 per cent of the sun will be concealed by the moon.
The eclipse start time in the capital is around 6.17pm, and the majority of the sun will be hidden behind the moon from 7.12pm.
Read more: Exact London solar eclipse times revealed as UK prepares for phenomenon
Read more: Why you need to be careful watching the solar eclipse on selfie mode
After this, the Moon will begin to move away from the Sun with the eclipse officially ending at 20:06pm.
It comes as hundreds of people have queued up in a bid to get their hands on £10 glasses to watch the solar eclipse safely.
Videos posted on social media show queues of hundreds of people waiting outside shops in London and elsewhere in the country - with some people saying they had waiting as long as five and a half hours.
At the 24-hour Am2Pm convenience store on Whitechapel High Street in east London a queue of several hundred people snaked down streets for hundreds of metres.
One individual who joined the queue posted online that they had waited for over five hours to get a pair of the glasses.
They wrote: "waited for 5.5hrs, made some new friends, watched some fights, saw a police chase. Overall 9/10 experience.
"Was told that Royal Observatory and Maritime museum are completely sold out, there’s a spot in Spitalfields that should have some tomorrow at an unknown time, but am2pm had 15k from 11pm and theyre open all night. Stay safe out there!"
Convenience stores, national parks and the Royal Greenwich Observatory have all exhausted their glasses supplies ahead of the eclipse, which will be the country’s fullest for the next 54 years.
The Royal Greenwich Observatory said it had sold approximately 15,000 pairs of eclipse glasses, a sellout, in the last month.
John Lewis said colander sales have increased nearly 40% compared to last year, as Nasa recommends the kitchen item as a way to watch the eclipse by viewing the shadows it casts on the ground.
Imo Bell, a planetarium astronomer at the Royal Greenwich Observatory, said: “You can project the image of the eclipse using a household item like a colander which has lots of holes in, point the colander towards the sun with your back facing it, and in the shadow of the colander you’ll be able to see the eclipse in the holes, which is really cool.”
Following the 1999 total solar eclipse, the Royal College of Ophthalmologists reported around 70 cases of people experiencing vision problems after watching the eclipse.
Around 40% had looked at it for less than a minute.
Devon, Cornwall and the westernmost parts of Pembrokeshire in Wales are set to see the eclipse at its fullest, with a range of 94% to 96% of the sun obscured by the Moon.
Plymouth in particular is forecast to see the Moon cover 94.66% of the sun at 7.16pm on Wednesday, according to the Met Office.
The rest of Wales, Northern Ireland, parts of the West Midlands and the South West, and the westernmost parts of Scotland can expect to see 92% to 94% solar coverage.
In Cardiff, the Moon is forecast to obscure 93.24% of the sun at 7.13pm while in Belfast it will cover 93.09% of the sun at 7.08pm.
Skygazers in the rest of the UK will likely see the Moon obscure 90% to 92% of the sun, with 91.79% expected in Birmingham at 7.12pm, 91.41% in London at 7.13pm, 90.74% in Inverness at 7.03pm, 90.71% in Edinburgh at 7.06pm and 90.22% in Newcastle at 7.07pm.
Those most keen to catch a sight of the fullest possible solar eclipse should avoid the easternmost parts of the UK, where only 88% to 90% of solar coverage is expected.