Solar eclipse: grey skies part for lucky star-gazers

Astronomers and scientists joined tourists, commuters and schoolchildren to witness what was billed as the most impressive solar eclipse since 1999

The sun also eclipses, to misquote Ernest Hemingway. After hours of near-despairing reports insisting the clouds were too thick, sky-gazers at Newquay in Cornwall - positioned to be among the first in the UK to glimpse a phenomenon that has thrilled and terrified human beings for millennia - excitedly reported a hazy nibble out of a misty pale orange ball was visible just before 8.30am - narrowly beaten by a much sharper image from Madrid.

As millions of eyes and camera lenses peered hopefully towards the sky for what was promised as the most impressive solar eclipse since 1999, it wasn't a horrible morning, merely - across much of the UK and northern Europe - as grey as a politician's suit.

Related: Solar eclipse 2015 - in pictures

On train to West Midlands have just seen the solar eclipse underway - brilliant

Related: Solar eclipse 2015: what you need to know

You can see the shadow cast by #Eclipse2015 on these images from space. Much darker over UK at 9.30am. Alex D pic.twitter.com/lqUND9AidX

Related: Sleeping Czech tourist survives polar bear attack on remote Arctic island