MADRID – The first total solar eclipse in decades in Europe swept across the continent on Aug 12, turning day to dark across several countries as crowds watched from hilltops, coastlines and other open spaces.

The coincidence of Earth, the moon and the sun falling into perfect alignment – a fleeting celestial event known as totality – created a frenzy across the region. People paid exorbitant hotel rates to be in the inner part, or umbra, of the lunar shadow. Along that path, where the sky was clear, the sun became a black disk ensconced in a hazy corona, surrounded by planets and stars.

In Spain, normally empty towns filled up. Other people trekked to far-flung North Atlantic destinations. But how much anyone saw depended on their luck with cloud cover.

The eclipse moved over Iceland – where birds screamed as if it were dusk, while the air went cold and darkness fell – and Spain, where crowds gathered in Castrillo de la Reina in the north chanted, “Now, now, now!” as the eclipse took its first nibble. In London, people clustered in streets and parks to see a partial eclipse. “Well done, moon,” exclaimed a viewer on Primrose Hill in London.

Eclipses have seized the imagination since people began telling stories. In Homer’s Odyssey, the death of Penelope’s suitors is foretold with an omen that may have been a solar eclipse: “The sun has been obliterated from the sky, and an unlucky darkness invades the world.”

From Iceland to Spain, people flocked to viewing spots to see the moon completely block out the sun. PHOTO: FINBARR O’REILLY/NYTIMES

That strange moment of totality was the main event on Aug 12. Much light went out of the sky and warmth out of the air. The moon seemed to cut into the sun and then, over about an hour, slide across its surface until the brief totality phase – at most, just over two minutes – ended.

Not everyone was lucky enough to see it, or much of it. At an eclipse festival in Hellissandur, Iceland, heavy clouds and rain were the order of the day. But just after 5.45pm local time, the clouds parted just enough to let viewers see the sun narrow to a sliver.

“It was like a generosity from the sky to open up for us,” said Bjorgvin Hallgrimsson, 60, a contractor who lives in Reykjavik.

The moon passes away from the sun after a total solar eclipse in Castrillo de la Reina, Spain, on Aug 12. PHOTO: FINBARR O’REILLY/NYTIMES

In Sant Antoni, on the northern side of the Spanish island of Ibiza, a cloud covered the sun halfway through the eclipse. “This is a scam,” said Chelo Ortega, one of many people who were watching from the seafront promenade. “Maybe they’ll do a rerun tomorrow,” her husband, Julian Gomez, joked.

A few impatient onlookers had started getting up to leave when, suddenly, the sun reappeared.

The light dropped, and people began to shout. It briefly turned to night over the sea, and the sun’s fiery corona came into view. Thousands of phone screens were raised towards the sight as people applauded. NYTIMES

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

First total eclipse in Europe in decades turns day to night