Google searches for ‘sore eyes’ spike as stargazers ignore eclipse advice

• European stargazers witnessed a rare double celestial event as the Perseid meteor shower peaked hours after a major partial solar eclipse.
• The Moon obscured over 90 per cent of the Sun, marking the greatest solar coverage above British skies since the 1999 total eclipse.
• The Royal Greenwich Observatory sold out 15,000 eclipse glasses, while John Lewis reported a 40 per cent rise in colander sales used for safe shadow projection.
• Google searches for sore eyes spiked by 650 per cent following the eclipse, highlighting eye safety concerns after the event.
• 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.

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The best pictures as stargazers treated to astral delight with eclipse and meteor shower on same evening