The solar eclipse on Wednesday 12th August

I also bought special glasses and I agree, sods law, it'll probably be overcast 🤭 saw the one in 1999 in France, it was a bit surreal.

We went to my mother and stepfather's house in West Cornwall for the 1999 one. Looking at the map showing the projected path they were right bang in the middle of it, so it should have been spectacular. Guess what, it clouded over for almost the whole time, only clearing right at the end when there was a tiny sliver of black left on the sun. Still, it was an interesting experience with everything going dark. There was a field of horses next door and they went to the end of the field to lie down, presumably thinking it was bedtime.

At the last one in 1999, I was working at a museum on the south coast in an area known for its birdlife. As the sky darkened, the birds all came overhead, off the sea, thinking it was time to roost. That was quite spectacular.

We are discussing this at the moment.

I’ve just unearthed our safety glasses bought for 1999 eclipse when we took DD to France to view it. Hope they’re still safe to use on 12th. They look brand new.

My ex was very keen on astronomy so our holiday in 1999 was to the right bit of France where it lasted the longest. It was quite memorable. I even made little glasses for my then 7 year old son's toy to wear which were mislaid at the last moment. My ex recorded the event and there was much fussing about the loss of 'Pebble's glasses' which thankfully were found just in time!
Sadly I don't think I still have the safety glasses we had and I didn't know about this one in advance so probably too late now, but I may try to view it somehow. I can't afford to travel to where it's total though my ex may well do. He's travelled to see others since 1999.

I didn't know about it.

I m in east of England and from what I see it’s going to be the least visible here getting stronger going west

BlueBelle

I m in east of England and from what I see it’s going to be the least visible here getting stronger going west

Yes, we're not far from Cornwall, so we will pop down there. 96%.
There won't be another one for a long, long while

I was working during the last one but the hole office went outside to experience it.The weirdest bit for me was that the birds stopped singing.
When I got back to my desk, my phone was ringing. It was my daughters asking if I could come home ...
they thought the cat might like to see the eclipse with them and had shut the door to stop him running back indoors and now, they were all locked out!

Took my daughter to Jersey because of the Eclipse. It was clouded over, so we saw very little.
Mum lived near Peterborough John Lewis which has a dark glass panel across the back, and she was able to watch it all via the reflection.
Might try that.

My husband is very into astronomy and has recently bought some fancy telescope which does astrophotography, so he is intending that we visit my son, whose garden has an unobstructed view of the sky, unlike ours., and try to photograph the event. It has the necessary filters on it to be able tolook at the sun through it. It is also his birthday so I'm keeping my fingers crossed for him that it is a clear day, as he's really looking forward to it.
I remember the previous one, we were away in our caravan, the weather hadn't been very good, and eclipse day was a bit better. So I was pretty miffed at losing the little bit of sunshine we'd managed to get! I just remember it as going pretty grey, more like a winter's day.

Myself and my two sons sat on the banks of Derwentwater in the Lake District, we were living there at the time. It went a bit darker than dusk, all the birds roosted and it was so quiet. Looking forward to this one.

Lol well if its being compared to 1999 I won't see anything, it was cloudy here.

Dreadwitch

Lol well if its being compared to 1999 I won't see anything, it was cloudy here.

Apparently many people have made the journey from afar to Iceland to see it, but unfortunately cloud has set in there and they could well be disappointed tomorrow.

I’ll be at the cinema….

FranP

Took my daughter to Jersey because of the Eclipse. It was clouded over, so we saw very little.
Mum lived near Peterborough John Lewis which has a dark glass panel across the back, and she was able to watch it all via the reflection.
Might try that.

In 1999 I watched the eclipse reflected on our very large window at the front of our house purely by accident. It did have an eerie feel about it as it went very dark and chilly and very very quiet everywhere This year we are going to watch it from the Observatory above the Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol.

In 1999 we were in a field. Tomorrow we’ll head for a local beach and hope the cloud stays away.

I'm going to do what a chap on TV said to do. I haven't been able to get the glasses so I'm putting my phone in selfie mode and I'm going to record the eclipse as I'm watching. Then I'll have it to watch whenever I like. The place I'm going to watch at has trees and houses, I'm just hoping the field will be high enough as the sun will be fairly low in the sky.

Apparently 1999 glasses are not recommended to be used this time.

Don’t know why.

In 1999 we were with our great friends and all our children at Utah beach in France, it was a totality.
The temperature dropped quite dramatically, the birds roosted and the crickets sang.
We opened champagne and had a wonderful time talking to other spectators, our children have never forgotten it.

Calendargirl

Apparently 1999 glasses are not recommended to be used this time.

Don’t know why.

Someone on the news this morning said the old glasses shouldn’t be used . Maybe the plastic lenses aren’t as effective with age .

Nasa has also warned people against using their phones to film or photograph the eclipse, as pointing a phone directly at the sun might damage its sensors.

“It is safe to look continually at the entire eclipse while wearing your eclipse glasses,” says Sarah Knapton, The Telegraph’s science editor. “According to NASA, it is actually okay to look directly at the sun briefly during totality – when the sun is completely obscured. But Britain will only be having a partial eclipse which means the sun will never be entirely blocked out, so glasses must be worn at all times.

“Eclipse glasses are far, far darker than sunglasses and should not be able to see anything through them, other than the eclipse crescent.”

I’m probably more excited about the Perseids even though they happen every year. But this time it won’t be cloudy…