I travelled from South Shields to Spain to get the best view of the rare solar eclipse
A South Shields photographer travelled to Spain to ensure he’d get the best view of the solar eclipse.
A South Shields photographer has spoken of the “emotional” experience of travelling to Spain to witness the rare solar eclipse.
Steven Lomas, 40, witnessed the phenomenon in Aras de los Olmos, a municipality of Valencia, alongside his dad on Wednesday evening (August 12).
The eclipse peaked just after 7pm in the UK when more than 90% of the sun was covered by the moon but some places in Europe did experience full coverage.
‘The sun was perfectly clear’
The trip was two years in the making for Steven and he has told the Shields Gazette how it felt to see the eclipse in the Spanish mountains.
He said: “I was initially planning to go with my mam as I thought it would be nice to celebrate my 40th birthday but earlier this year, she was diagnosed with lung cancer and wasn’t fit enough to travel.
“So my dad and I flew into Alicante and then travelled up to the mountains around Valencia.
“I picked a spot on a mountain and parked in a lay-by but we were moved on by the police due to the wildfire risk so we went to a place organised by the Spanish Government and there was easily around 3,000 people there.
“However, it was all very relaxed and the weather was beautiful.
“When the eclipse started, you could feel the anticipation and the excitement but there was also tension because over towards the east, there was quite a lot of cloud coming in but it did hold off and the sun was perfectly clear.
“It was really emotional and took me back to the first time that I saw the Northern Lights - I just couldn’t believe that it was real.”
A warm up for 2027
Steven is now looking ahead to next year when he plans to travel to Egypt to witness what has been nicknamed ‘the Eclipse of the Century’.
He added: “It was very short but was really spectacular and to me, I’m using it as a warm up act for next year.
“I’m planning to travel to Egypt as an eclipse on August 2 is expected to last around six minutes long, which is set to be longest of the century.
“So that will be really epic.”