Millions of people in the UK and northern Europe have
glimpsed the best solar eclipse in years.
In a solar eclipse, a swathe of the Earth is plunged into
darkness as the Moon comes between us and the Sun.
From an aeroplane above the Faroe Islands, a camera
captured startling footage of the event reaching totality at 09:41 GMT.
The deep shadow formed first in the North Atlantic and then
swept up into the Arctic, ending at the North Pole.
People keen to catch a glimpse of the rare phenomenon were
advised not to look directly at it.
This is because even during the eclipse, looking directly at
the Sun causes serious harm - but there are ways to watch the eclipse safely
and many people took the chance to do so.
In all parts of the UK the eclipse reached at least 83% and
the darkness peaked at about 09:35 GMT. The precise timing and degree of the
eclipse varied with location.
For the Shetland Islands, the eclipse peaked at 09:43 GMT
and was very near total, with 97% of the Sun's disc obscured by the Moon.
Clear viewing opportunities were restricted by the cloud
cover that shrouded much of the UK, which will not see a solar eclipse on this
scale again until 2026.
Experiencing a genuine total eclipse required a trip further
north - such as flight taken by a camera operator above the clouds in the Faroese.
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