11th August 1999: Eclipse memories

[Weather-history]

Coming up to 20th anniversary of the last total solar eclipse seen from British mainland soil 

From Manchester, we had a fairly good view of the 90% eclipse. The sky at the height of the eclipse was weird with a slate grey around the crescent sun and a purple sky generally. The sky was noticeably darker to the south than to north as you were looking deeper into the shadow of the eclipse. The temperature dropped, an odd breeze got up and there was a strange weak light. Although it was hard to detect because your eyes adapt to slow changes, there was a noticeable drop in light levels. Cumulus clouds that had formed decayed just after the height on the eclipse due to the weakening of convection. It was an interesting experience, I certainly never seen an eclipse of that magnitude.

 

 

BBC News on the partial eclipse

BBC News on the views from Europe and Asia

 

[Weather-history]

Good footage from Sky News  of the drop in light level as total eclipse approaches

 

[Styx]

...20 years ago - crikey - 

It was overcast in Salisbury with some patchy very light rain, but it was dry during the height of the eclipse. Still a profound experience! I was doing telephone marketing at Anglian Home Improvements in Estcourt rd, but no work shift that morning. I was thinking, the Millennium is approaching and here is an Eclipse and at that point in my young life it all felt a bit spiritual, for want of a better word..

 

Edited August 10, 2019 by Styx

[Don]

Incredible to think this was 20 years ago!  I witnessed 97% of the eclipse from Ascot (where I was working at the time) and it was a strange experience.  The temperature dropped markedly within a few minutes with a strange light contrast.  However, annoyingly I was in Cornwall just three days later where they had experienced a total eclipse on the 11th August for two minutes!

Edited August 10, 2019 by Don

[Weather-history]

25 years ago

    

 

[Metwatch]

A paper by Edward Hanna on the weather impacts from this Eclipse:

uk eclipse impacts 11 Aug 1999.pdf

[Don]

 Weather-history 25 years, incredible!

[*Stormforce~beka*]

Geeze I remember this! Walking home from my cleaning job at my old secondary school. I was walking down the hill and could see it above me and it was as dark as night. So eery!!

[lassie23]

i remember sleeping through it

[Don]

 lassie23 You lazy bugger!

[Don]

 *Stormforce~beka* I remember watching this from work with a 97% coverage.  Whilst it was certainly an experience, it was nothing like a total eclipse, which I've yet to experience!

[*Stormforce~beka*]

 Don were you down south then 

 Styx yes! Life felt weird and scary 

[AderynCoch]

It was visible in Liverpool but only at about 90%. I have to say I didn't notice any changes in light levels or temperature. Ditto in 2015. You tend to notice the light more when you're plagued by cloud, it's the one silver lining you have when it's overcast - I was clouded out in Shanghai in 2009 but it went from very dull to night in a matter of seconds. It was a long eclipse (five minutes) but even the longest eclipses don't go that dark when the sky is clear.

I got screwed again in Australia (2012) and half-screwed in the USA (2017 - I saw about half of totality) but finally saw the whole thing this year in Mexico. Next on the list is northern Spain in August 2026. It's definitely worth seeing if you haven't done it already.

Edited August 11, 2024 by AderynCoch

[*Stormforce~beka*]

I wish I could remember this more! I only stood outside a few minutes then got "bored" of it. I would have stayed longer if it was now!

[James1979]

Went down to Cornwall for this on holiday to experience totality, lovely and clear the night before but poxy cloud cover in the morning, i was devatated!! Still quite special though as I saw the shadow move across the clouds and then the darkness that followed was special. Im desperate to see one without cloud in my lifetime - I had planned to go to both the 2017 and 2024 eclipses in the usa but both fell through and now I have 3 kids 5 and under I can't see how I can do it easioy anytime soon. That said there is one in Spain in 2 years I'm pinning my hopes on to do...

Edited September 13, 2024 by James1979

[*Stormforce~beka*]

 James1979 5 kids! ARe you mad!! How did you manage that?

[James1979]

 *Stormforce~beka* omg that's a major typo hahaha!! I have 3 which is more than enough ! Ill correct that...

[*Stormforce~beka*]

 James1979I was gonna say!! Trying to guess if you had triplets or something!

[Don]

On 11/08/2024 at 00:43, *Stormforce~beka* said:

were you down south then

Yes, but not in the south west unfortunately!