Millions of Britons turned their eyes to the skies for the best solar eclipse in decades – with crowds flocking to viewing events and shops selling out of protective glasses.One couple even planned their wedding a year in advance, timing it to coincide with the event.More than 90% 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 the Royal Observatory Greenwich, London, Stonehenge in Wiltshire, Calton Hill, Edinburgh, and outside Queen’s University in Belfast.(PA Graphics) (PA Graphics)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.Footage shared on social media showed a long queue of people in Goring, West Sussex, appearing to wait for glasses being handed out to view the eclipse.The solar eclipse by Canary Wharf (Ian West/PA) (PA Wire)Gasps of “wow,” “oh my god” and “this is so cool” were uttered by skywatchers at Greenwich Park, south-east London, as the event took place.Veronica Orozco popped a champagne cork as she sat watching the eclipse with her neighbours in Greenwich Park, as stone’s throw from their home.Ms Orozco, who is originally from Venezuela, said: “It is my second solar eclipse. I was in Venezuela and I was young and I thought that the Sun would not come back. My dad said ‘it is science, of course it will come back.’“Now sitting here at the age of 41, it is still magical. I am sitting here with my neighbours and we have been telling each other ‘Happy Eclipse Day’.”Thousands gathered on Crosby beach in Merseyside, and as the eclipse reached its peak, The Beatles’ Here Comes The Sun was played by a DJ who was stationed on top of a bus at an outdoor bar and street-food venue The Bus Yard.Hundreds of people were at Cardiff Bay barrage with heavy traffic in the Penarth area as people tried to make it in time for the peak of the event.Jerry and Jamie Bone, aged 30 and 25 respectively, had planned their wedding at Alpheton in Suffolk for over a year so that they could get married on the day of the eclipse.The couple provided special glasses and filters so that guests could view the event.The wedding guests watch the solar eclipse at Alpheton in Suffolk (Jordan Pettitt/PA) (PA Wire)Queen guitarist and astrophysicist Sir Brian May posted a video of himself on Instagram waiting for the eclipse on a hillside in which he can be seen looking at an image on an iPad and asking a man nearby “how long ’til totality?”.In an earlier post on his stories, the musician said he would be taking a white ceramic plate down to help him view the event.Dhara Patel, who is a space expert at the National Space Centre, said some people may have become emotional while watching the eclipse.Speaking at the UK’s largest space attraction in Leicester, 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% 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.”A member of the public watches a live stream of the solar eclipse at the Royal Observatory Greenwich (Yui Mok/PA) (PA Wire)Abdul Othman, 28, who only found out about the event at the National Space Centre a few hours before it began, described it as “surreal”.Mr Othman, who queued at the venue for one of the last two tickets, said: “It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity.“You hear about it all the time in your life, and then to see it with your own eyes and actually see the moon go across the sky and turning the sun into just a little crescent, it’s kind of surreal.“And then when you see the sky getting darker, that’s also quite amazing to see.”He said he got the last pair of eclipse glasses provided by the National Space Centre.Members of the public wear protective glasses while watching a partial solar eclipse (PA) (PA Wire)Convenience stores, national parks and the Royal Greenwich Observatory all exhausted their glasses supplies ahead of the eclipse, which was the country’s fullest for the next 54 years.The Royal Greenwich Observatory said it had sold approximately 15,000 pairs of eclipse glasses, a sellout, in the last month.John Lewis said colander sales increased nearly 40% 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% had looked at it for less than a minute.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.