Abstract

A rare and spectacular total solar eclipse
crossed the south-west tip of Britain, sweeping
swiftly onwards into continental Europe,
during the late morning of 11 August 1999 (Fig. 1). (The last total solar eclipse in the UK barely clipped Shetland in
1954, and the next will not occur until 2081, in the Channel Islands.) The rest of the country was subjected to a deep partial eclipse. For most of Britain, the eclipse lasted from about 1000 to 1235 BST, with maximum obscuration of the Sun by the Moon between about 1112 and 1122BST, exact timings being later further east (Bell 1997).
Unfortunately the surface pressure analysis (Fig. 2) shows a weak low approaching Ireland, with an associated cloudy trough hitting the south-west peninsula just at the crucial hour when avid eclipse watchers could well have done without this nuisance! Ahead of the front, winds were light in a slack south or south-east airflow resulting from a weak transient ridge. Cloud conditions further east and north in Britain were still patchy but generally clearer (Fig. zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA3). While many of the south coast resorts east of the Isle of Wight had largely clear skies, with typically 7 or 8 hours of bright sunshine, those further west were mainly cloudy with only an hour or less of sunshine.