Partial solar eclipse spotted across South East

Stuart Maisner
BBC News, South East@smaisner
Joshua Askew
BBC News, South East
Coastal JJ A image of the partial eclipse of the sun Coastal JJ
This image was taken in Selsey, West Sussex, by BBC Weather Watcher Coastal JJ

Skygazers across south-east England have been looking up at a partial solar eclipse on Saturday morning.

Kent, Surrey, Sussex had some of the clearest skies in the UK to watch the phenomenon which reached its peak just after 11:00 GMT.

People had the chance to see the Moon cover about 30 to 50% of the Sun at its peak, with the best chance of clear skies in south-east England, East Anglia and the Midlands.

The eclipse was not total anywhere in the world, but north-eastern regions of Canada saw up to 92% of the Sun covered.

Dafydd and Susy A solar eclipseDafydd and Susy
Caterham, Surrey

Robert Massey, deputy executive director of the Royal Astronomical Society, speaking from Lewes, East Sussex, at 11:00 GMT, said: "There's a really nice crowd of people, everybody's really excited, there's people wearing eclipse glasses, looking through the telescopes we've got set up.

"We're loving it and it's a lot of fun. It's a great public atmosphere, it's a really nice event. There's a huge amount of enthusiasm about it," he said.

Worthing Ben A partial eclipseWorthing Ben
Worthing, West Sussex

Mr Massey said: "It's not like the landscape or the light looks different if you're not looking at the eclipse, but if you're looking through a telescope then you see this really obvious bite.

"One of my colleagues here has a colander and through that, you can see little pinholes of the sun with the bite out of it as well."

Steve Partos A close-up of a partial eclipse.Steve Partos
Near Sevenoaks, Kent
David Solar eclipse David
Birchington, Kent
Frances B Image of partial solar eclipseFrances B
Guildford, Surrey
Hew-in-Margate Image of partial solar eclipse Hew-in-Margate
Garlinge, Kent

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