Canadian and U.S. viewers gathered to watch the partial solar eclipse, while UK celebrities such as Romeo Beckham and Amanda Holden also joined the thousands of sun‑gazers on Wednesday night. In cities from Vancouver to Toronto, families set up backyard viewing parties, using certified eclipse glasses to safely enjoy the same celestial event. Across the northern United States, from Seattle to New York, public parks saw crowds similar to those in Britain.
UK celebrities watch eclipse
A slew of famous faces turned out to watch the solar eclipse, with Amanda Holden, Carol Vorderman and Romeo Beckham joining the thousands of sun‑gazers on Wednesday night.
Millions of Britons across the UK turned out to witness the moon gradually cover 96 per cent of the sun, with some parts of the country falling into near total darkness.
Holden watched the rare phenomenon with a group of friends as well as her new goddaughter, sharing sweet photos of her and the baby wearing special glasses.
Vorderman opted for a more lavish setting, enjoying a glass of wine as she saw the astronomical spectacle from a boat floating on a river.
"SOLAR ECLIPSE FROM THE RIVER TONIGHT. With full reflection on the water," the former Countdown star captioned her posts.
Beckham shared his delight over the eclipse, before watching his favourite team Arsenal compete in a friendly match against Como.
Ronan Keating took the opportunity to play his beloved song, When You Say Nothing At All, on his balcony during the eclipse.
Myleene Klass donned a pair of Pride‑themed glasses as she watched the display with a group of friends including Kate Thornton.
Paddy McGuinness revealed he and his kids got creative with their sunglasses to witness the phenomenon, using cereal boxes with tiny holes poked through to protect their eyes.
Sharing photos of their homemade efforts, he wrote on Instagram: "It's amazing what you can see with some old cereal boxes, tinfoil and over a thousand pounds worth of iPhone."
Fellow comedian John Bishop also resorted to household items to view the eclipse, choosing to watch it through the tiny holes of a colander.
Strictly Come Dancing pro Amy Dowden enjoyed the stunning sight on a rooftop after a day of training for the BBC show.
The One Show hosts Roman Kemp and Alex Jones showed off their matching glasses as they hosted a special episode of the BBC show all about the eclipse.
One celebrity who didn't get to see the once‑in‑a‑generation event was Jeremy Clarkson, who said he was "so annoyed" that it wasn't visible from where he lives in the Cotswolds.
The Clarkson's Farm star, 66, lives at his 1,000 acre Diddly Squat Farm in Oxfordshire with his partner Lisa Hogan.
Sharing a photo of the sun as a bright white blob across his fields on Instagram, he raged: "So annoying. We didn't get the eclipse in Chipping Norton."
The next partial eclipse will be in 2050, and the next total one will be in 2090.