Solar eclipse 2022: Photographer captures stunning image of partial solar eclipse in South Shields

Met Office forecasters alerted the public that the partial solar eclipse would be visible in parts of the UK on Tuesday morning, obscuring up to a quarter of the sun’s disc. The astronomical event began shortly after 10am, reaching its peak shortly before 11am. In various points of the UK, it could be seen up until around midday.

It is thought that the best views were spotted in the northern-most tip of Scotland, the Shetland Islands.

And in South Tyneside, photographer Steven Lomas took this striking black and golden image of the event in our skies from his garden in Marsden.

Steven, 36, has taken a range of fantastic landscape photographs across the borough in recent years, including the aurora borealis at Souter Lighthouse over the weekend and a double rainbow over the sea in South Shields.

Issuing advice ahead of the partial eclipse, the Royal Astronomical Society said: “A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon comes directly between the Sun and the Earth. Those in the UK will see a partial eclipse [on Tuesday], with between one and two fifths of the Sun covered by the Moon.”

“If the weather is favourable, at the maximum point of the eclipse the Sun will appear to have a large bite taken out of it!

“Remember - NEVER look directly at the Sun. There are various ways to safely observe the eclipse, using everyday materials and telescopes or binoculars.”

For more of Steven’s photographs, follow him on Instagram here.