What it’s like to chase solar eclipses around the world

The path of totality crosses the western part of Iceland and they hope to find a spot in the Westfjords peninsula to witness it.

Although they’ve heard rumours of roads being closed to stop too many people overwhelming the area, so are keen to get there a couple of days before the spectacle.

Samantha, who her husband describes as an “obsessive travel planner”, is all over the Facebook groups and social media pages being used by eclipse hunters to share information and advice.

She’s expecting a good turnout given the number of eclipse glasses she’s seen people with in Iceland. “They’re really trying to prepare everybody,” she says.

“What I expect, as we start inching westward, is we’re going to see more and more of them.”

Andrew Wills is also going to an island to see the eclipse, albeit a much warmer one: Majorca.

He’s travelling with his wife and his dad, who is 90. Father and son witnessed Europe’s last total solar eclipse together in 1999 while stood atop St Agnes Beacon in Cornwall.

The landmark, believed by some to be a Bronze Age bowl barrow, offers panoramic views across the Cornish countryside and out to the Atlantic. It was a cloudy day, remembers Andrew.

“We didn’t see the shadow rushing across the sea towards us, though we did see the dawn appearing and it getting closer very quickly,” he says. “It was awe-inspiring.”