to think the eclipse is a bit of a let down?

[liveloveluggage]

It has gone a bit darker, but I was hoping for something more dramatic. AIBU?

We had great views here in the West Midlands. We had eclipse glasses and I took some fab photos. At maximum eclipse dd said it looked like the Cheshire cat was up in the sky

YABU
The eclipse might have been a bit of a non-event here, but Brian Cox has been on the telly a lot more.

I went out to set up at 8.30 & the crows were going mad - it was very atmospheric! Luckily, the clouds cleared a bit after 9 so I got some lovely photos. I kept DS1 off nursery so we could watch together. We've been talking about it for days & he seemed really excited... Until he woke up in a bad mood & kept refusing to go outside! I did manage to drag him out for a couple of minutes & took a few quick pics as evidence that he was there but he looks really grumpy! Ah well, he'll be excited to take a photo with him when he next goes to nursery!

Really enjoyed it; didn't have a pinhole camera or cereal box so improvised with a colander. It was cold and eerie and magical. DD was initially scared of the "big clips" but when the cloud cover was just right she was really excited about the crescent shape and told my friend all about it later in the morning.

AGnu I even purchased a new cosy coupe so the kids were super keen to go outside. Was sure youngest DD would manage a leaky nappy or injury at the crucial moment - but no (yay!)

Was great here in Edinburgh, groups of people all over the city watching together.

Brilliant in Bristol! A crowd of us stepped out from the gym and shared a pair of proper eclipse specs.

Wokingham here, and it just went dull like it was going to be a massive thunderstorm and then back to cloudy and dull. Although the sun is out and shining brightly now.

Very short break in the clouds in Northern Argyll just in time.

Patchy cloud cover here meant I could look at it and take some photos...missed the maximum bit as I was in a meeting! And after last photo taken the sun came out and I couldn't look anymore...tried a colander but no joy!!

Nothing but cloud here in London, but consoled myself with the view of Brian Cox on the telly....

It was 94% here and got darker like dusk. Total cloud cover so I didn't even know what direction the sun was.
Did it get totally dark in 1999? I remember going outside at work but that's about all I remember.

Durham was a bit cloudy, but you got a pretty decent view. The cats started to panic a bit and it went very cold and eerie. Loved seeing it.

Love everyone's photos

it wasn't the eclipse that was a let down - it was the weather - glorious blue skies now - but at 9.30 you couldn't even tell where the sun was it was so cloudy. And it was so dull and gloomy that we barely noticed it get any darker either. :(

I didn't have the glasses. Was out running and the light was kind of strange, is all. It was really sunny but the kind of sun you'd expect on a summer evening, kind of faded. probably not making sense

YABU, it was phenomenal...we had the whole school out on the back field with various solar glasses and pinhole projectors. I even saw the aurora borealis at the very end of it. Fantastic experience, will never forget it.

When's the next one?
2026?

is tomorrow too soon to start trying to get some specs??!!

Fabulous here in the West Midlands. Great view and far better than the last one in 99. The baby I was feeding then and missed it, is now doing her GCSEs.

Fantastic, we had perfectly clear skies and stood outside for about 3 hours with glasses watching it all with my cousin who was visiting - it was her birthday so she was thrilled by it all.

We had good visibility (N Wilts, but a different bit to MyBootsAreMuddy's), and dtds had an Independent Study Day, so we were all loitering outside with a colander, sheet of paper, a piece of cardboard, a decent camera on a tripod, and - a minor miracle this - dtd1 suddenly remembered at 9.20 there was still a pair of eclipse goggles in the back of the 1999 Royal Geographic Society Guide to The Total Eclipse that I'd kept as a souvenir of when we took them aged seven months down to Cornwall. So we were passing them round between the four of us, and also let some passers by have quick peeps.

The street lamps didn't come on, but it definitely caused odd bird and animal behaviour and it became very very cold.

If I knew how to upload photos I would - we got some good ones.

I definitely had some of the same fearful awe that surprised me so much in 1999, when I realised that the laws of physics meant an absolutely enormous rock was passing silently over my head and not falling onto me!

I had a baby dd in '99 pyjamas - when we went down to the SW to see it with friends - but yes she missed it I think as was facing wrong way in baby carrier (she like being cosy at 4 mths and frankly was going to miss it anyway!) And yes mine's doing her GCSE's in a couple of months this summer too