Clouds hamper first partial solar eclipse of 2011

The moon passed between the sun and the earth between around 8am and 9.30am, but early reports were not much to write home about because of the poor visibility.

The eclipse was first seen Tuesday over Jerusalem, where the sun appeared to have taken a large bit out of its upper right section.

In Britain the eclipse had already begun when the sun rose in London at 8.06am, in Manchester at 8.24am and in Glasgow at 8.46am.

The eclipse ended at 9.30am for viewers in the UK.

The percentage of the sun obscured in the middle of the eclipse varied considerably across the UK, with the South East seeing more than two thirds obscured while from the Western Isles as little as a quarter was covered.