UK eclipse glasses sell out ahead of Wednesday event

Specialist glasses for viewing Wednesday’s solar eclipse have sold out at major UK retailers, the Evening Standard reports, citing a Press Association dispatch. The Royal Greenwich Observatory alone sold about 15,000 pairs in the past month and is now out of stock, as the moon is expected to obscure more than 90% of the sun over much of the country.

The rush is partly geography and partly memory. The eclipse is forecast to be the deepest seen over the UK since the total eclipse in 1999, with the fullest coverage expected in the south-west and parts of Wales. The Standard lists Devon, Cornwall and the westernmost parts of Pembrokeshire as seeing the greatest obscuration, with some locations projected to reach the mid-90% range. Even where the sun remains a narrow crescent, the remaining light is still strong enough to injure eyes quickly.

That is why the supply constraint matters. Eye specialists and the Royal College of Ophthalmologists are warning the public against counterfeit or “knock-off” glasses and stressing that ordinary sunglasses are not safe. The Standard reports that only eclipse glasses certified to ISO 12312-2 provide appropriate protection. Mohamed Elalfy, a consultant ophthalmologist and president of the Royal College of Ophthalmologists, advised that the safest way to watch is indirectly, including via live broadcasts.

The injury mechanism is a trap built into the biology. The retina has no pain receptors, so damage can occur without immediate discomfort, and symptoms may only appear hours later. After the 1999 eclipse, the Royal College of Ophthalmologists recorded about 70 cases of vision problems linked to eclipse viewing, and around 40% involved people who looked at the sun for less than a minute, according to the Standard.

The same week offers another sky event: the Perseid meteor shower is expected to peak the night after the eclipse. For retailers, the contrast is straightforward: one spectacle requires certified equipment that has already sold out, and the other requires only darkness and patience.

On Wednesday evening, the UK’s most scarce eclipse resource may be neither cloud cover nor clear horizons, but a piece of plastic with the right stamp on it.