Crowds out in force for solar eclipse in North Yorkshire

More than 90 per cent of the sun was obscured by the moon, the most it has been blocked above UK skies since the total eclipse in 1999.

Crowds of people could be seen at viewing spots in different locations including in Bootham Park in York and Beetle Bank Farm.

READ MORE: North Yorkshire sites named in top spots in UK for eclipse

The Moon passes in between the Earth and the Sun (Image: Aaron Chown/PA)

People could be seen with special glasses, and homemade viewers made from cereal boxes and colanders.

Others brought their own chairs, while photographers could be seen with cameras.

Physicists gathered at the Ron Cooke Hub at the University of York to view the eclipse through five telescopes which had been set up in advance in order to see the sun in a safe manner.

Grooms Jamie Bone, 25, (left) and Jerry Bone, 30. (Image: Jordan Pettitt)

Following the eclipse, there was a 650 per cent increase in the number of people searching “sore eyes” on Google in the UK, compared to the same time on Tuesday.

It came after experts warned people only to view the spectacle with ISO 12312-2 solar eclipse glasses for the safest eye protection, as sunglasses would be insufficient.

Dhara Patel, who is a space expert at the National Space Centre, said some people may have become emotional while watching the eclipse.

People sat in the evening sunshine in Bootham Park before the solar eclipse. (Image: Newsquest)

Speaking at the UK’s largest space attraction, she said it was “incredible” to be able to witness this eclipse, adding: “We’ve had solar eclipses over the last couple of years, about 30 per cent coverage.

“They’ve been good, but this is definitely a different scale.

“And what’s really nice is it’s a way for lots of people to come together and connect with nature – looking up at the sky at objects that we typically tend to take for granted.”

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

Crowds gather in Bootham Park in York for the solar eclipse. (Image: Newsquest)

John Lewis said colander sales increased nearly 40 per cent compared to last year, with Nasa recommending the kitchen item as a way to watch an eclipse by viewing the shadows it casts on the ground.

Only special solar eclipse glasses that are ISO 12312-2 certified for the safest eye protection were recommended to be used, and sunglasses are not sufficient, experts said.

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 per cent had looked at it for less than a minute.

Bootham Park in York just before the solar eclipse. (Image: Newsquest)

In an added bonus for stargazers, the annual Perseid meteor shower is set to reach 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.