Eclipse mania: Savvy solar seller makes £280 flogging just seven pairs of glasses as hundreds queue

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Emmanuel told LBC he accidentally ordered eight pairs of eclipse glasses for £20 last week, in preparation for the solar event.

He was going to return them yesterday, until he saw social media videos of people queueing around the block to buy them.

When Emmanuel got to the shop at Aldgate East, he quickly found people would spend a lot to safely watch the eclipse.

One woman paid £10, three paid £40, then another went for £50, then the glasses, which he was going to give to his friend, went for a whopping £100.

"I felt bad taking the money. It feels like taking advantage," he admitted.

However, he did say he wanted to do something "decent" with the profit, like donate it.

Read more: All you need to know about tonight's solar eclipse - exact times and how to watch it safely

Read more: Astronomy fans travel for miles as retailers sell out of solar eclipse glasses

Meanwhile, 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.

Millions of people are planning to watch the rare celestial event tonight with the moon due to cover as much as 92% of the sun - but specialist glasses to watch the event safely are in short supply.

One individual who joined the queue posted online that they had waited for over five hours to get a pair of the glasses.

The 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!"

Another person posted online: "6pm and an estimated 2/1/2 hours to go until the next batch of eclipse solar glasses arrive at Am2Pm shop in Whitechapel."

Another person posted a picture of the enormous queue and wrote: "Got mine yesterday from the Whitechapel shop that has had massive queues outside it today."

A third posted: "There aren’t many things that astonish me any more.

"But this is one. I have never stood in a queue in a fraction of this.

"What do you think they are queuing for in a corner shop in Whitechapel, London yesterday??"

One person shared a note that was passed down the length of the queue by a shopkeeper at Am2Pm which read: "Maximum 5" per customer.

"Estimated delivery 10,000 on way 1hour. 11pm 5,000.

"Pass to back of line. Bags delayed at Heathrow but on way.

"£9.99."

Queues have snaked around shops and stalls at other locations including Old Spitalfields Market, Bond Street, Wimbledon, Arsenal and Greenwich.

The eclipse will begin at 6.17pm, reaching its maximum at 7.12pm before ending at 8.06pm.

People are being warned that counterfeit glasses that can damage their eyesight. Using old pairs of eclipse glasses is also not advised as the plastic degrades over time.

People must use specialist solar eclipse glasses that are explicitly certified to meet the ISO 12312-2 international safety standard in order to watch it with no risk.

The Royal Greenwich Observatory said it had sold approximately 15,000 pairs of eclipse glasses – a sellout – in the last month.

Consumers are being warned against using “knock-off” glasses to watch the event and eye doctors urged people to avoid looking directly at the sun, with even brief exposure causing lasting vision damage.

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.

Mohamed Elalfy, a consultant ophthalmologist and president of the Royal College of Ophthalmologists, said: “The safest way to enjoy the eclipse is to observe it indirectly, such as by watching a live broadcast.

“Looking directly at the sun during a solar eclipse can cause damage to the retina, potentially damaging the cells responsible for sharp central vision.

“Crucially, the retina has no pain receptors, so people will not feel the damage as it happens.

“Symptoms may only become apparent several hours later and can include blurred vision, a central blind or dark spot, distorted vision, reduced colour perception and increased sensitivity to light.

“While some people recover over weeks or months, others can be left with permanent visual impairment.”

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.

These include the coasts of Norfolk, Yorkshire and Aberdeenshire, as well as the Orkney and Shetland Islands.

In an added bonus for stargazers, the annual Perseid meteor shower reaches its peak on the night of August 12-13, hours after the eclipse.

The shower is produced as Earth ploughs through a stream of dust left behind by Comet Swift–Tuttle.

Each tiny grain strikes Earth’s atmosphere at about 60 kilometres per second, burning up in a brief flash that takes the appearance of a shooting star.