Clouds have ruined a once in a decade moment as south Londoners woke up the realisation they would not be able to stare up at the majesty of the eclipse.

Glasses were left unused. The Daily Telegraph even tried to blame the French, with the headline 'Solar eclipse could be blocked out by French smog'.

The skies were still meant to go dark at about 9.24am and the birds sing and go quiet, confused by the darkness. Some workers traipsed outside on the off-chance. But did it happen? Did it heck.

Friday's solar eclipse: Two dawn choruses and the possibility of a glimpse of Jupiter

Beowulf Mayfield, a 50-year-old sub-editor had taken the day off to head to Crystal Palace with fellow eclipse spotters.

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He said: "There were about 50 people just standing around in little clusters and I think everyone pretty much knew the weren't going to see anything.

"It did get slightly darker for about two or three minutes, like it became mid-winter again.

"I was looking forward to it but I think I knew."

 

Your Local Guardian: This picture taken from Sutton shows the eclipse, as seen this morning.

In Spain the eclipse was looking good. And beautiful images from the south west of England showed it was possible to get a view from the British Isles.

But in Sutton, Kingston, Hampton, Croydon and Surrey there was no such luck.

 


 

 

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