It wasn't as dark as I expected. I live in Tehran and sky was a little cloudy. Anyway, it was a great experience for me because it won't happen again till next 80 years. My eyes have a little smart pain but it isn't important because the eclipse was so valuable for me and I know it will happen only once in lifetime!
Anita Modjahedpour, Iran
It left an eerie feeling in the air, and got very cool outside. We were able to see almost a full eclipse, and the best part of it was when the rooster crowed after the moon moved away.
Wes Garrett, Switzerland
 The eclipse as seen in Turkey by one of our users, Ebru Yalcin
|
Never have so many stared so futilely, for so long, at so little. The sky was completely overcast and the sun was glimpsed for only a few seconds about 30 minutes after totality (which lasted for 25 seconds here, just north of Luxembourg City).
Michael Jolliffe, Luxembourg At Leon, France - cloud, cloud and more cloud. However, at the centre line of totality it went black as night for two minutes after what seemed like God switching the lights off. After the two minutes the lights came back on to the sound of a cock crowing!
Brian Fletcher, France
It was absolutely marvellous. I sat on a hill north of Graz surrounded by farm land and the Slovenian border in the distance. The lead up to the eclipse was as expected it gradually got darker. All of a sudden it was a very dark twilight except for Slovenia in the distance. The corona round the sun was amazing.
Colin Steele, Austria
Interesting to read some of the comments on the visibility of the eclipse in Munich. I watched the whole amazing event unfolding in clear skies near the centre of Munich. For those that didn't have a clear view it must be very disappointing - it was an awesome and humbling experience, with spontaneous applause breaking out at the moment when the sun was totally eclipsed, followed by equally spontaneous cheering when the sun again peeped out from behind the moon. My lasting memory will be of the quiet and wonderment as scores of people took the glasses away from their eyes to gaze for a minute at the total eclipse.
Mike Allan, Germany I was a participant at an eclipse party along the Isar River, and we were extremely lucky to catch the full eclipse phase during a gap in the cloud cover. I was truly amazed at the spectacular sight. I had always thought an eclipse would be a short replay of a night time atmosphere. But in fact the light conditions were different from any I've ever experienced anywhere before. It was an absolutely mind-boggling event, a once-in-a-lifetime show in the sky...
Marcella von Reiswitz, Munich, Germany
An awesome display of nature which will live with me throughout the rest of my days
Steve Maslen, France
Milan only experienced about a 95% eclipse with partly cloudy sky's, but that did not deny us an early twilight. Business meetings stopped, traffic came to a standstill as people paused to see the eclipsed sun's crescent skip in and out of the clouds. The partial eclipse seem to hold the city in an hypnotic state...silence held the normally noisy city. And just a mere ten minutes later, we were back in bright sunlight and life returned to normal, as if somebody had clicked their fingers!
Alex Wolker, Italy
 Ebru Yalcin sends another spectacular image from Ankara, Turkey
|
It was a unique experience. Thanks to the BBC for this program to be shown this way. It is very thrilling to see the way nature is.
Dr. Harish Bahadur, India Very bizarre experience indeed.
Coldf Jedi, Turkey
I saw a total of 98 % and it was great. I never saw something before, only it was not dark here, such a little sun and such a strong light!!! GREAT!!! Michael Otten Netherlands
Michael Otten, Netherlands
A slight momentary decline in the intensity of sun's beating rays. That's all I experienced in the moment of eclipse. Enjoyed the view by the BBC.
Mohammad Shaffi, Abu Dhabi, UAE
Though the sky was almost completely cloud covered, a break came at the perfect moment. Although we were not in the line of the total eclipse, it was still amazing to see and be party to an event such as that. There was, as usual, too much hype, but it was possible to factor it all out and enjoy the eclipse for the natural wonder that it is.
Antonia Mochan, Belgium
We're just back home after having seen a very spectacular event: the solar eclipse. At once everything was dark here... yes, the famous "penumbra". A lot of Italian people have come up to Germany just to see the eclipse. But they haven't had much luck with the weather: in fact, in many parts of the land this natural show has been hidden by the clouds. Here in Wasserburg the sky was cloudy too, but we have seen a lot. (All eyes skyward, and at once the absolute dark!) In Munich the heavy rains broke just at the moment of totality, making the event a washout.
Peter Patti, Germany Venice - 12:40 - 90+ per cent total eclipse, light cloud cover restricted clear view. Pigeons in St Marco wanted to go to sleep. Not too cold.
Alex, Italy
On top of a 15 level office block, we could perfectly see the 95% blockage which was forecast. The Hague is in the south west of The Netherlands and was partly cloudy. The clouds gave a very surreal feeling to the whole experience, blue and red edges with the occasional yellowish glow, it was stunning
Floris Scheurleer, The Netherlands
Good day from Duesseldorf, Germany. Unfortunately, the overcast sky today prevented us from having a full view of this spectacular phenomenon. I tried to catch the eclipse through sporadic openings in the clouds and what I did finally manage to see was indeed awesome. Semi-darkness covered the city and the temperature dropped noticeably. I am disappointed, however, that I couldn't get a full and clear view of this once in a lifetime experience. I guess it was better than not seeing it at all.
Anna Wacker, Germany
An overcast day, but the clouds cleared just before the eclipse reached totality. We witnessed 100% coverage and it was a humbling experience as it went so dark you could see the stars, street lights came on and birds took to the skies seemingly in panic.
Glyn Evans, Munich, Germany I found the coverage great. Was able to get on line to watch it the telecast and the rest of the coverage.
Kevin Jackaman, Australia
We stopped at the side of a small road between Heidelberg and Karlsruhe. It had been really cloudy beforehand, but there was a patch of clear sky just at the right time, and we got to see the full eclipse for almost a minute. There was a peculiar kind of darkness, not really like night at all. I wouldn't have missed it for anything.
Sarah McKenzie, Germany
Although we were not in the totally dark zone, we still experienced a very weird spectacle. The day gradually got darker and when the moon was eventually in front of the sun, large black clouds swept across the sky making it even darker and colder. As soon as the moon began to move away from the sun, the clouds disappeared and we could see the spectacle very clearly. It was brilliant!
Elaine Edmondson, Germany
We had splendid weather. I was in a meeting, but took an improvised pin-hole camera (from a shoe box) with me. To the amusement of my work colleagues I sat by the window and every so often looked in the box. I was able to see the moon passing of the sun, and sometime around noon (as said I was in a meeting, so I can not be precise) the sunlight became noticeably weaker. Even though it appeared bright outside, the shadows in the room where so much the more noticeable that the others commented. The weirdest thing was that I, who was sat with my back to the full glare of the sun, noticed at that time that there was little if any heat - normally you get roasted if you sit in this position behind the window.
Christopher Briggs, Norway A beautiful cloudless sky here in Montpellier, enabling a perfect view. A remarkable drop in luminosity and temperature - eerie. Rendezvous in 2085...
Magnus Hutchins, France
It was 12:20 at the office. The eclipse seemed to be stuck behind the thick clouds. We just felt the sun going down.
Laurent Geslin, Lille, France
I saw one of the most spectacular events today from atop a seven story building in Rome. The sky was cloudless and blue and the by early noon people had started trickling onto the terrace for the view. Most of us had a gadget or a pin hole camera, or a pan with water to watch the gradual disappearance of the sun. And it did, well almost. There was a brief drop in light and temperature but then it was back to being sunny again.
S Dharmapuri, Italy
From Sofia, Bulgaria the eclipse was like sun cradle. It was very beautiful. The sun light was like before sunset and it was a little bit cold like before spring sunset. And now when the sun is full it is very, very hot - 37 Celsius degree.
Kosta, Bulgaria In Belgrade we experience 98% of the eclipse. The streets are empty, without passengers, cars, traffic totally frozen, as it was the first day when the bombs began to fall...
Vesna, Yugoslavia
The usually pulsating Torino heat of midday, was replaced by a crisp feeling, one almost associated with dawn.
Irfan, Italy
With "only" a 91.5% partial eclipse, the event in the Macedonian capital Skopje was not as spectacular as elsewhere. Nevertheless, there was a clear drop in light intensity and temperature between 1245 and the peak at 1300 CET, and the streets were deserted. Eerie!
John White, Macedonia
Miserable grey sky went even greyer. Switched off lights in office, could still see clearly. Had more exciting 'once-in-a-lifetime' experiences crossing the street!
Chris Clifford, Zurich, Switzerland
The build up to the eclipse was far better than the actual 'partial eclipse' itself as we had no cloud cover until the last half hour. What a feeling knowing I probably saw more here than the poor folk down in Cornwall !!! Better luck next time....what happened to Armageddon?
Corey Price, Holland Here in Paris it was a bit like dusk for a few minutes, and the shadows became a bit sharper (or maybe that's my imagination), and the cars put their headlights on and then it had passed...
Thomas Munro, France
Sunny breaks, and nice view 97% Nice!
Gary Evans, Amsterdam, Holland
12:49: I can see sun (sunshine) from 80 %, but clouds cover the sun
Martina Jurasov�, Czech Republic
Through gaps in the clouds I glimpsed a beautiful, partially excluded, cold light from the sun as the air traffic thundered overhead, as usual.
Jim Burns, Z�rich, Switzerland
There was rain and heavy cloud 10 minutes either side of the eclipse but the sky was clear at totality and we got a fantastic view. The sky didn't go completely dark but we could still see a couple of stars near totality.
Janet Sampson, Cronenbourg, nr Strasbourg, France
Total change of atmosphere, beginning twilight, swallows flying, but no bird song. 80% eclipse, totally wondrous to see our students watch the miracle.
Helle Gjeding J�rgensen, Denmark
Didn't see much. About half way through it got cloudy and started Pouring with rain. Everyone thought the world was ending but it didn't. Great fun.
Klara P., Prague, Czech Republic
Here in Rome the weather has been very good for the observation of the eclipse. The silence in the cloud moment was so unreal... I've never seen one such thing before. There are no birds in sky at the moment. Strange uh?
Massimo Brigand�, Italy We were watching the eclipse in Zurich - predicted 97.1% obstruction. Sitting outside at a local restaurant having lunch, dodging out between showers we were able to occasionally view the tremendously evocative view of the very black moon sliding across the face of the sun. About 1 minute before maximum obstruction I was able to see several stars gleaming out - no mean feat considering that the small percentage of sun left was doing a very good job of providing a lot of background light due to refraction off the clouds. All together an interesting experience - but I am glad that I had not driven North into the 80 km traffic jam, stuck in a thunderstorm for 4 hours in the totality zone!
Michael Drinkwater, Switzerland
A light haze only aided the enjoyment of the eclipse. Only a slight dimming of daylight was observed. It was viewed best by projecting the image through binoculars onto a white surface.
R/V GD Nalivkin, Russian ship, Centre of Caspian Sea
It wasn't as dark as I expected, more like twilight. The local council had decided to light the streetlights though. A bit exaggerated I thought. The cats in the area were not impressed. Some people seemed to think being out on the streets was dangerous and stayed in.
Gert van der Straaten, Netherlands
It is the middle of the rainy season here in Burkina Faso. The weather last week has been cloudy with scattered sunny intervals so it was going to be a question of chance whether or not we were going to get a clear view of the partial eclipse. However last night there was a prolonged heavy rain storm and this morning it is heavily overcast. Sometimes as the thunderstorms roll in it gets so dark during the middle of the day that the street lights automatically come on but it is not that dark this morning. If one was not aware what was going on above the clouds one would have no idea that there is something very special happening. My one year old daughter will probably never experience another eclipse.
Mark Wilson, Burkina Faso (West Africa)
It was really beautiful. I could see 80 % coverage of sun by moon.
Viranchi H Joshi, Denmark
Amidst a sky covered in clouds and shortly following heavy rain, a gap appeared in the sky 2 minutes before the Totality. It remained perfectly clear for about 4 minutes, allowing the whole event to be witnessed, as the day became night, then day once more. Within two minutes of the return of day, the clouds returned, as did the rain. My first eclipse - spellbinding. Working away from my native country in Munich isn't so bad after all!!
Phil Hamer, Munich - Germany
Here in Soria we just felt the sun rays wasn't as strong as some minutes before, but it wasn't as spectacular as we expected. Hundreds of people here got out of their houses but they should have stayed home watching TV.
Manuel Su�rez, Soria, Spain
The BBC site was the best site about total eclipse. Thanks a lot.
Rhaxwell Santos, Brazil
The weather just turned out to be perfect before the eclipse started, despite clouds in the morning. Had no special glasses, tried with black plastic sheets to get a blurred effect, but then got a pair of film negatives. Saw a very clear and fantastic view, magnificent nature in its glory...last one for the century.
Brijesh Goel, Norway
Not a lot to see from down-under! However great to see it on The Net, thank you BBC.
Paul Sheldon, New Zealand
Its really a wonder.
Rauf, Pakistan
Although only 97%, we saw a nice display as the clouds parted in Geneva for a good view.
Keithly, Diane, Switzerland
I have seen a partial solar eclipse at round 12:45 Swedish local time. It was my first experience to see solar eclipse , however it was partial. It was quite amazing how nature works. We had 70 percent solar eclipse at the peak time. The surroundings became like one is looking though a sun glass in a sunny summer day. I wished I were in England this time.
Addisu Hunegnaw, Sweden
It was cloudy but bright. We could see a crescent sun from time to time through the clouds. At the time of maximum coverage there was a gap in the clouds. It was marvellous to see the thin sliver of light so clearly. There was a strange dimness about the light even though the sun was so high in the sky. We could see lots of little crescent suns casting shadows below the trees. It was really special.
Jon Kirkwood, Netherlands (the Hague)
In Zoetermeer, Holland we saw in between the clouds a nice but not total eclipse. Most people outside the office had expected more darkness. It became a little colder and it was a bit of strange light, very nice to experience.
Tineke Schoonbeek, The Netherlands
Eclipse was taken totally differently here in Karachi, Pakistan. Many offices were closed after 1400 and not because its an amazing celestial phenomena, but because people are considering it dangerous to be outside on an eclipse! Pregnant women were warned by some so called religious leaders not to go out side! One has to wonder how much education is important in my country....
Kamran Paracha, Pakistan
Here comes the sun, there is the moon, eerie and exciting but it was gone too soon.
John, Netherlands
The total eclipse happened here about one hour ago. Although there were many clouds we did get a glimpse of the moon passing in front of the sun. And we got a better view of the moon travelling away from the sun. Overall it was an eerie yet wonderful experience.
V. Susanne Hare, Stuttgart, Germany
What I saw was pretty much like a half-moon, except it was too bright to see the eclipse without some sort of sunglasses or the like to shield the eyes.
Siggi, ICELAND
I live near Stavanger in South-West Norway and have been able to follow the eclipse through a thin layer of clouds. It was at its maximum here at about 12.30 central European time with nearly 77 % of the sun covered, and one could sense a distinct weakening of the light, almost like early in the evening.
Gunnar S�yland, Norway
Cloudy sky cleared with one minute to go. Perfect views of the sun. Sky not as dark as during night-time, was able to see two stars. Absolutely amazing.
Joanne Parker, Walldorf, Baden W�rttemburg, Germany
At 91.8% coverage the local light levels were high. More like a summer evening about an hour before sunset.
Leavy, Switzerland
It was great. We had in Hanover a cloudy sky. It was 12.05 p.m. Then a wind came and the clouds disappear slowly. We could see without glasses because of some thin clouds. It was wonderful. We had about 90% eclipse. It was great!!!!
Emmanuel Sissimatos, Germany / Hannover
At 10:28 GMT, 10 mins before total eclipse, the black rain clouds parted over Unterschleissheim a few kilometres north of Munich. There was a completely unobstructed view of everything, the corona being most spectacular. Nobody was working, the temperature dropped perceptibly and the world was silent.
Rupert Brown, Germany
Parts of Munich had clear sky. We saw the whole show,10km south of Munich centre - Taufkirchen. Others nearby were not so lucky.
Alan Ford, Germany
Tuesday, 24 August, 1999, 11:50 GMT 12:50 UK 
E-mail this story to a friend
