Londoners have been scrambling for specialist glasses to help them watch today's once-in-a-generation solar eclipse. The Moon is set to cover around 90 to 92 per cent of the Sun, making it the most significant eclipse visible in the UK since 1999.
People queued for hours, in some cases throughout the night, to get their hands on glasses from a convenience store in Whitechapel. Queues snaked around the block, with people sharing photos of the scenes on social media. Joining the queue was no guarantee of getting a pair, with many left disappointed after travelling across London and beyond.
Store owner overwhelmed by demand
Convenience store owner Ali Raza, who owns the AM2PM store at the centre of the rush, said demand had been so high that he "hasn't had time to eat". "On Sunday we had people coming from Surrey, Southend-on-Sea, yesterday night a lady came from Southampton, and loads of people have come from Birmingham as well. We're too busy," he said.
"Today (Tuesday) I already sold 6,000 pairs. At 2.30am we had a delivery from Spain and by 9.30am we sold out everything." On Tuesday lunchtime, hundreds of people formed a queue at Old Spitalfields Market in Spitalfields. Some appeared to have joined during their lunch break, while others had made the journey specifically to buy glasses.
Locations and prices
The locations selling the glasses have been closely guarded to avoid huge queues, with many customers finding out about them through word of mouth. On Wednesday morning, a convenience store in Shoreditch was selling pairs of glasses, which have doubled in price from £5 to £10. People could be seen arriving on Lime bikes as they quickly joined the queue for a pair. Known locations include Greenwich, Wimbledon, Arsenal, Whitechapel, Spitalfields and Finsbury Park.
The Royal Greenwich Observatory said roughly 15,000 pairs of glasses had been bought in the past month, with supplies now completely sold out. The Standard will be running a live stream of the eclipse on its website and YouTube channel.
