this is bbc news. the headlines at 7.00pm. the spanish police say they have killed younes abouyaaqoub, the main suspect in the barcelona terror attack. he was shot this afternoon west of barcelona — police say he appeared to be wearing a suicide belt. gripped by darkening skies in the united states for the total solar eclipse which is sweeping coast—to—coast. millions have been rushing to get a ringside seat for this, the first time its stretch from the west coast to the east coast in 100 years. this is the scene right now in illinois. no, it is 0regon. sky gazers are watching the moon gradually eclipsed the sun. it looks like some cloud as well as so it looks like some cloud as well as so often in the circumstances. good evening and

welcome to bbc news. spanish police say they've shot dead the main suspect responsible for carrying out last week's terror attack in barcelona. according to police the man appeared to be wearing a suicide belt. earlier 22—year—old younes abouyaaqoub was named as the man who drove the van which hit pedestrians on las ramblas boulevard last thursday — killing 13 people. another man was killed as abouyaaqoub fled the scene. 0ur correspondent james reynolds has the latest from spain. the police say that the hunt for younes abouyaaqoub, on the run for four days, is now over. 0fficers rushed to a small town after a woman reported a man hiding by a petrol station. reports say the police shot the man when he failed to take off a suspected explosives belt. a bomb squad then sent in a robot

to check him on the ground. the authorities now confirm it was the man they had been looking for since thursday, since he rented a van and drove it down barcelona's main avenue. this is the route of the attack down las ramblas. the van hit pedestrians. after 500 metres, it stopped, and the police say the attacker then escaped into the nearby market. 22—year—old younes abouyaaqoub was wearing a striped shirt. his sunglasses on his head. the police believe he was alone. these stills appear to show him on his getaway through the market. now wearing his sunglasses. the pictures appear to show that he is walking, not running, doing nothing to draw any

attention to himself. the security cameras pick him up for the last time right here on the edges of the market. the police say he then headed out, and later stabbed a man, stole his car, and drove off. the police believe that younes abouyaaqoub was part of a larger network, which they have now dismantled. five suspected members were shot dead when they tried to carry out an attack last thursday. four more have been arrested. the authorities are hoping to gain valuable information from them. and two were killed in an explosion. they include the network's suspected ringleader. the bbc has learned that he left a mosque near brussels last year, after elders reported him to the police for his radical tone. shortly after the las ramblas attack, this was filmed from the suburbs. it may show the moments

officers find the car stolen by suspected attacker. they got out of their cars with all the guns, lots of police suddenly, right in seconds. the police then intensified their search inside the city, and then across the region. now, they say their man hunt is over. we will be bringing you more from spain later on. a total solar eclipse is well under way over in the united states — with sky—gazers gathering across the country to witness day turning into night. the sun is peeping out.

brendan 0wens, astronomer at the royal 0bservatory greenwich is with me. he is veryjealous of the people who are on the ground here. once again, we will go back to those pictures in just a second, ijust we will go back to those pictures in just a second, i just wanted we will go back to those pictures in just a second, ijust wanted you to explain what we are seeing because not everybody is totally familiar with these events? we are seeing the disk of the moon cover the desk of the sun. quite amazingly the moon is 400 times smaller than the sun but also 400 times closer so it perfectly captures and the moon is making its way across. we are back on the ground and it is pretty chilly there, as you can imagine. people are being interviewed. this isa people are being interviewed. this is a bit later in the eclipse. this is a bit later in the eclipse. this is madras, 0regon. here we have the moon moving away gradually. we will

see images like these ones where over on the west coast, the moon is finishing its run across the sun and in other places they are still awaiting it to happen on the east coast. it almost looks like a bike has been taken out of the sun. and also on the sun at the moment are sunspots. this is totality now. you get the outer atmosphere of the sun which we call the corona which is one of the mysteries we have in solar physics. the outer atmosphere is hotter than the surface of the sun. the outer and there is about 2,000,000 celsius and the centre of the sun is about 6000 celsius. these pictures have given us the opportunity to explore this region of the sun. une have a very small amount of time, i think you are saying two minutes and 40 seconds

for any total eclipse. they can last longer but in this particular eclipse the most amount of time people will get is two minutes 40 seconds. various organisations like nasa are trying to get as much data as possible in these moments. they even have aeroplanes flying above the cloud topped with special cameras on board. it does say nasa in the picture. they will have their best cameras and best eyes on this. you mentioned about learning about the sun's atmosphere, but why is it important to find out about these things?m terms to find out about these things7m terms of astronomy, of things seem quite distant to us. they do not seem to affect our lives directly on earth, but when it comes to the earth, but when it comes to the earth and the sun system, we are directly affected. we live in the wa ke directly affected. we live in the wake of the sun. we are in the sun's empire. that affects our atmosphere

and our technology on earth. everything from the northern lights to power outages are a result of solar activity. if we are to probe what is happening inside the sun and the outer atmosphere, these are the moments where we can capture more data and untangle what is going on. all life depends. look at that, isn't it astonishing? absolutely stunning. amazing. back comes the blazing sun. nobody in their right mind would look at the sun in that way. you have to have all sorts of filters on cameras and your eyes. you do have a very big shift between that moment of totality when the sun's light is blocked and then when the sun has streamed back in its full intensity. even if it is 90% covered it is still too bright to see with your eyes. i don't know what the right script and of that

is, a crescent sun? it is almost there. for some regions which are slightly outside the shadow path, if they are further north or south they will get something like this and that will be the best they will get. north america, that entire region, they have the chance of seeing quite a good partial solar eclipse. the first state to see a total solar eclipse was 0regon. it is now missouri, apparently. that is where things are going on at the moment. it is the first time since 1918 the there has been one coast—to—coast. this is the scene at the moment in a place called casper, wyoming. it is extraordinary. it reminds you of the crescent moon but the dark patch is

the unlit side of the moon. it is the unlit side of the moon. it is the normal face of the moon that we would see during a full moon. it is there but it is not being illuminated by the sun. if we could hop around the other side of the moon we would be able to see the sunlit side. and also, up on board the international space station they may have an opportunity to see the shadow path over the earth as well, making its journey from west coast to east coast. it is a reverse of the eclipse, the actual shadow. i'm sure we will get the pictures. they will be amazing to see. and we are speaking at the moment to brendan 0wens, an astronomy programmes 0fficer 0wens, an astronomy programmes officer at the royal 0bservatory 0wens, an astronomy programmes officer at the royal observatory in greenwich. we know there are eclipse chasers. we spoke to a lady in birmingham earlier. and you have your own plans? i would love to go to the 2020 chilly and argentina

eclipse. there is one in 2019 but that will be in the southern hemisphere pulls up winter so i am planning to take advantage of the southern hemisphere's summer instead. excellent! brendan, do stay with us. on the line we have gavin from portland, oregon. have you had your eclipse? we have had it. it has passed us on now. tell me what it was like. it was pretty incredible. idid not was like. it was pretty incredible. i did not really know what to expect. i had my boys out. i have a 14—year—old and a nine—year—old, and watching them experience how the shadows become images of the eclipse. and answering questions about why that is. and hearing the animals react to the sky going dark and getting cooler is something i

don't think i will forget. tell me what the temperature was outside before and what do you reckon it went down to? to be honest, i am bad at answering what it was but it felt like we had a good 10 degrees drop in temperature outside. a rather strange experience, isn't it? in temperature outside. a rather strange experience, isn't mm in temperature outside. a rather strange experience, isn't it? it was quite something to experience. it was much more interesting and exciting than i had anticipated. that is good. it is perhaps not a once—in—a—lifetime thing, perhaps you will be people who go and look for a eclipse is elsewhere? it is something i will definitely keep in mind. we have 99% coverage. i'm a little sad i did not add up for 100%. how were you looking at the sun? we all know you have to be careful. we had eclipse glasses and

so we careful. we had eclipse glasses and so we would take breaks and have short couple of minute looks at the sun but mostly, 100% through the eclipse glasses which block out everything. i tried to do some photography which did not turn out as well as i would like!|j photography which did not turn out as well as i would like! i think seeing it with your eyes is the important thing. now presumably it is all over and the temperature has gone back up again? it is and it is a normal day except the animals are still affected, there are lots of dogs barking around the neighbourhood. so the animals are reacting more? it seems that they area reacting more? it seems that they are a little on edge. gavin mahaley, we are grateful for you talking to us. we are grateful for you talking to us. thank you very much. jefferson city missouri, if you are on the ground right now, that is what you were seeing. you get a good

impression there. i was about to say we we re impression there. i was about to say we were seeing what the people on the ground experienced. they have very much like not the completely middle of the night but very gloomy indeed. some lucky people in the uk will be able to see a partial eclipse this evening. 0ur correspondent lucie fisher is in pendeen near penzance in cornwall. lucie. well, here you can expect a fabulous backdrop but i am not sure how much of the eclipse you will be able to see here because we have this terrible cloud cover which we were hoping would lift. there is still time. iam hoping would lift. there is still time. i am joined hoping would lift. there is still time. iamjoined by hoping would lift. there is still time. i am joined by brian sheen and the director of the rosemount 0bservatory the director of the rosemount observatory in cornwall. why have you chosen this location? it has a

superb panoramic view of the coastline. we will see the sun setting into the sea partially eclipsed. it is one of the best places in the entire united kingdom because it is so far south and so far west that we get the best of it. how confident are you that we will see anything? the cloud looks like it will not give way. we are more pessimistic than we were when we started out. it was lovely this afternoon. and then the mist has come up from the sea. back in 1999 we had a total eclipse of the sun in cornwall. you and i were both here. will it be better than that? we would like to think so. it is running 99 close i must say. you have some colleagues in america and some cornishmen over there. what have they been saying? they have been having a much better eclipse than we have. this particular eclipse has gone right across the

continent and there have been different weathers in different places. a great experience for all those who had the opportunity to ta ke those who had the opportunity to take part in what is probably the most watched astronomical phenomena of all time. so we have not given up here? some parts might be ok? they might, you never know. there might be somewhere with no cloud. but we had hoped we would see a good show here in land's end. if people are able to see it, they should not do it without i protection? that is right. the bulk of the sun is not cove red right. the bulk of the sun is not covered and the damage you can do to your eyes isjust as bad as if it was a big eclipse or an ordinary daytime. just do not do don't it, go staring at it without proper eye protection and we do notjust mean dark sunglasses. that partial eclipse, 10% or so of the sun here

is supposed to happen in about 15 minutes time. if it does happen, we will bring you some more pictures. thank you very much. brendan 0wens is an astronomer at the royal 0bservatory, greenwich. he has been sitting beside me. this is what they have been seeing in madras in 0regon. they were being a bit optimistic in cornwall. first of all the weather, they will not see much from there. they will see a smidgen. they will see a smidgen. a little middle of the sun will be taken out but over in the us they have the big show. they are getting a big show, absolutely. that is from carbondale which is in illinois. we are now seeing people on the ground,

obviously, still pretty light there. we cut away from them just at the moment we would like. this is a p pa re ntly moment we would like. this is apparently the longest totality coming up now. brendan, you talked about two minutes and 40 seconds. two minutes 41 seconds. it is not someone two minutes 41 seconds. it is not someone will get a raw deal, it is only a few seconds but that is the point you will get the longest for this particular eclipse. so missouri and illinois are enjoying that. as we heard from the lady from birmingham, ithink we heard from the lady from birmingham, i think she was in wyoming. we actually get some really nice views of the sun which are a little different. this is not com pletely little different. this is not completely blank. there are some features towards the middle of the disk. there is a sunspot group. it isa disk. there is a sunspot group. it is a great opportunity to see the

sun itself as well as the darkness. cameramen cannot resist shots on the ground and then quick, look at it. some cloud drifting across. that is very dramatic. it is scientific. suddenly it has gone green. very dramatic. it is scientific. suddenly it has gone greenlj believe that is false colours! it will be coloured in a certain way to improve the contrast to see what we're looking at. there are plenty of instruments. there is a pair of nasa aircraft recording the information using infrared cameras to record the corona but i cannot verify that is what is happening. when you press the wrong button on your television remote you get a lot of information and you are not sure what it is about. that is not the colour you would see from the ground that it gives us an idea of the intensity of the light. there are

the people on the ground. you can see how gloomy it has got. everybody will be wanting to take pictures. i a lwa ys will be wanting to take pictures. i always think you should look through your own eyes that i am old—fashioned. put your glasses on quickly, keep those glasses on, children! it would be tricky to get the right setting on your camera in the right setting on your camera in the right setting on your camera in the right moment. you would be faffing and you would want to see it with your eyes. we want to hear. it is excitement from the crowd. cheering isn't that amazing? that is the crowd. what do you do? it is an emotional moment. now the cameraman has got the idea beautifully. there you can see it. and in the shot goes

the cameraman, the camera person doing their very best. what do you think of that? it is amazing. it is a very shared experience, everyone together enjoying this moment. you do feel connected to one another as you are seeing this happen. it is very ominous but it is something that shows we have a system in place. we have a massive cosmic coincidence that the moon is just the right size and distance to cover the right size and distance to cover the sun. brendan, thank you very much indeed for the moment. we will now go to don campbell from cbs news. he is injoseph, missouri. good evening to you. it looks a bit gloomy there, let's put it that way!

explain why. it definitely is gloomy right now, nicholas. but a lot of smiles on the faces of people here because of about 15 minutes ago we did experience the total eclipse. it was quite the scene. all morning long that has been this war between the clouds and the sun. right before the clouds and the sun. right before the total eclipse took over the rain did let up and we finally saw some brea ks did let up and we finally saw some breaks in the clouds. we could get the peak of the sun and the solar eclipse taking place. it was quite incredible. the crowds cheered and chanted. we are at an airport here in saintjoseph and about 15,000 people are converged on the spot alone to take in the site. just to give you some perspective, it is just north of the us city of kansas city. it has a population of about 77,000 people. 0fficials before today were bracing for 500,000

people to converge on this town for this incredible moment. we have encountered folks from as far away as australia, kenya and spain and i must say, even for me living in dallas and travelling for work it was well worth the wait here. it was quite the scene and the experience here and for a lot of the folks here it will be a once—in—a—lifetime experience. have you ever seen an eclipse before? no, i haven't. it was really moving. it got completely dark but hind us. it got really cool as well. a tv station broadcasting next said the temperature dropped down to about 67 degrees. earlier i was sweating from the heat here so it is quite the experience. notjust visually but you feel it. it is emotional and you are reminded of how small we are in this great huge universe. we spoke to an amateur

astronomer who travelled from australia. today was his fifth eclipse. after experiencing it i can see why people travel around the to ta ke see why people travel around the to take in this celestial event. don campbell, very grateful to you. thank you. look at that. this is another picture. this is from hopkins mill in kentucky —— hopkinsville. that is a total solar eclipse there. a little hint of the sun's base, the —— raise, the corona around it. we can go to cristina thomas and eclipse chaser. what are you seeing? hello, are you there? hello! it just went you seeing? hello, are you there? hello! itjust went into totality

and it is completely amazing. it is dark and beautiful. everyone is clapping. it is amazing. i cannot say it enough. you are there in the darkness at the moment, what was it like as the moon moved slowly across the sun. what did you experience?m got dark relatively quickly. it was starting to get darker slowly but the final darkness comes on quickly. all of a sudden you have a bright light in the sky which goes out and now you have this fantastic corona all around it. how many eclipses have you witnessed before? two totals. how does this one compare? this one is much better. there was a problem with the clouds with some of the other ones and this one is a perfect view, it is amazing. was the sky clear before the eclipse began? yes. wow. so you do get the best

view. down goes the temperature. are people around you cheering or are they quite? there are quite a number of cheers, some clapping. folks are excited. and presumably you are looking at it through your glasses, you are being careful about that. right now i do have to. i took them off. but you are not looking at the suni off. but you are not looking at the sun i hope too much. 0h, off. but you are not looking at the sun i hope too much. oh, i see because it is dark. do be careful to put them straight back on. we are looking at tiny little blobs of sunlight. can you see those as well? ican. sunlight. can you see those as well? i can. that must be amazing from where you are, just seeing those little flares from the sun. it is. there are no other words.|j little flares from the sun. it is. there are no other words. i can tell by your short answer is that you are experiencing something quite extraordinary. and i do now how much

you know about these things, you just perhaps enjoy looking at them but it is an important scientific moment as well. tears. -- it is. i am distracted! cristina thomas, eclipse chaser, thank you very much indeed! there we are. that gives you a good idea. the pictures and hearing the people talking, and there we have more reporters on the ground with the crowds. that is hopkinsville in kentucky. people looking up there. this is what they are seeing. so we had the picture on the ground and now we are seeing what they are seeing as well. brendan 0wens from the royal 0bservatory is with may. what do you

call that with the flair? when you get the little sparkles of sunlight they are called bailey's beads. there was an english astronomer who identified them and realised that is what they are, it is the surface terrain of the moon. it gives off a whole new glimpse of the moon. it is not a perfect sphere, it is rugged. it has mountain valleys and huge mountains as well. and in some of the images on the edge of the sun there are little eruptions as well. you get a chance to see those which are you get a chance to see those which a re lower you get a chance to see those which are lower down in the atmosphere. it is something you cannot see unless you have a total solar eclipse. you are getting very good images with what is happening with the sun, as we are talking about its atmosphere but also the moon as well, because the moon looks round to us but it is

jagged? absolutely. you get a sense of the terrain. and we get a chance to not just of the terrain. and we get a chance to notjust study of the terrain. and we get a chance to not just study the sun of the terrain. and we get a chance to notjust study the sun and the moon but the earth's atmosphere. you can see how the absence of light affects the earth's atmosphere. it isa affects the earth's atmosphere. it is a spectacle for everyone to enjoy. indeed. and the spectacle i am told president trump and his wife are watching from the white house. probably on the television. they are amongst those enjoying these amazing sites. we will come back to more from the eclipse in the united states shortly and talk to brendan 0wens again. for the moment, thank you. let's go onto the main news of the day. spanish police say they've shot dead the main suspect responsible for carrying out last week's terror attack in barcelona. live to barcelona and our correspondent gavin lee. some up please what we know of what

has happened today. the police operation started four hours ago in a very remote town called subirats which is about 25 miles west of here. police have confirmed they have killed the only suspect, the man who drove the van down las ramblas killing 13. they say that younes abouyaaqoub, a 22—year—old moroccan national, part of a carousel of 12 people, he was the only one they haven't arrested or killed or killed themselves, because there was an explosion last week at a bomb factory, wedge of them accidentally killed themselves. what we are told is that, a short while ago, somebody who lived in the region locked outside their window, a woman, and noticed somebody who looked like they were wearing winter clothes in

they were wearing winter clothes in the summer, she looked more closely and saw what appeared to be a suicide vest. she called police and within about an hour they were there. we were told he ran into the vineyards and crouched down. the police ordered him to take off the fa ke police ordered him to take off the fake suicide vest, which we now know it to have been, but he opened the jacket, he shouted in arabic allahu akbar, and they shot him. it has been confirmed that they shot the last suspect, younes abouyaaqoub. there is a flood of rumours suggesting he was being harboured, but they are saying now, the head of the catalan government, a short while ago, he said they have dismantled the terror cell, neutralised it, there is no immediate threat from them, but their investigations continue as to how much support the wider terror network has. i think there was news about a radical cleric that had been talked about. that has been confirmed, i think, talked about. that has been confirmed, ithink, that talked about. that has been confirmed, i think, that he died in that explosion. several days, i think that was, gavin. yeah. just

going through the chronology, we had wednesday, a town further along the coast, about 120 kilometres from here where, for six months, police say this gang of men between 18 and 26, led by this cleric that you mention, a cleric in a town in the parini ‘s. all of these dots connect, because where they were planning, suddenly there was an explosion on thursday. police have confirmed that the imam, the leader of the attacks, was killed, and the others then launched into action the following day. they struck the original plan, which police say was three attacks with vehicles using explosives. instead they attacked las ramblas and a second attack down the post in cambrils. in total, they killed 15 people, because separately the way that younes abouyaaqoub

managed to escape was by stabbing and killing a spanish driver and fleeing in his car. the imam appears to have connections to belgium pulled he was seen in belgium last year, ina pulled he was seen in belgium last year, in a place where dozens of jihadists left for syria. he tried to get a job as an imam and he was reported because the authorities said he was too radical, and he came to spain. the 2004 madrid bomb attacks, the biggest terror attacks in europe, 198 people killed, he was in prison, according to police sources, with one of the chief suspects attack in about 2012 will stop thank you. let's ta ke let's take you back to the eclipse is sweeping across the united states. i'm joined by the news editor of sky at night magazine. you are in brilliant sunshine. the eclipse has been and gone, as far as you are concerned , eclipse has been and gone, as far as you are concerned, but what was it

like? it was utterly amazing. i've never experienced anything quite like that in my life. i had expectations, because it was my first eclipse, about what i was going to see, but all of the articles and books you read don't prepare you for being here and people able to see it. describe it to us. we have seen lots of dramatic pictures, and we are looking at one now with just a thin sliver of red from the sun as the moon crosses over. we have seen from the sun as the moon crosses over. we have seen coronas, from the sun as the moon crosses over. we have seen coronas, we've seen over. we have seen coronas, we've seen everything. but described to us what it was like to be on the ground. it's been hours in the building. as soon as the sun starts to go behind the moon, you feel the temperature starts to drop and even now, it's midday, and it should be sweltering be hot, and it's not, it's more like late afternoon. when totality was approaching, i was looking to the west, and you could see the darkness coming in as it swept over you, and you could sense

a shadow coming across you. we looked up at the sun and everybody starting going berserk as we looked up, and it slowly, this really dark black disc moved in front of the sun and completely blocked it out. there was a brief moment where a couple of bright lights shone like jewels and then you could see the corona, this enormous, narrow, elementary type surroundings of the sun, which was much bigger than i was expecting. it took upa much bigger than i was expecting. it took up a lot more space in the sky. it was here, in this strange light, which i've never had the likes of before, and all of these people, and the kids were absolutely loving it would i'm here with about 200 other people, mostly locals and people from denver. and it was a really community spirit that you could

feel, all of these people sharing this magical moment together, and that was particularly nice. when it went away again and it brightened up, it was amazing how fast that transition happened, and how quickly it became bright again. it's definitely something... this might have been my first eclipse but it certainly won't be my last. have been my first eclipse but it certainly won't be my lastlj have been my first eclipse but it certainly won't be my last. i can i . certainly won't be my last. i can imagine! ilove certainly won't be my last. i can imagine! i love your description of the crowd going berserk. were they shouting or cheering? there was cheering when it first went dark and the kids were going, oh my god, i can't believe it! and then people... then there was quiet as people took it in and really appreciated it. and then, as the sun came back, there we re then, as the sun came back, there were a couple of people chanting usa, usa, and singing the national anthem. for them, i usa, usa, and singing the national anthem. forthem, ithink usa, usa, and singing the national anthem. for them, i think it was a proud moment, sharing the phenomenon with the rest of the world. proud moment, sharing the phenomenon with the rest of the worldlj

proud moment, sharing the phenomenon with the rest of the world. i hope you catch up with more eclipses. it's obviously been a great experience for you. thank you for sharing it with us. brendan 0wens, astronomer at the royal 0bservatory greenwich is with me. the thing which strikes me is that nearly everyone we have spoken to has said, i was looking forward to it but, my goodness, when it actually happened, it was more spectacular and moving them they had anticipated. it makes me incredibly envious and thirsty for this experience myself. i have seen a 90% partial eclipse, which sounds like it should be as good as the real deal, but it's not forced there is that specific moment. people have recorded it across this story. we have a more scientific perspective on it now, but centuries ago people thought it was important of doom and something bad was going to happen, something bad was going to happen, something ominous, that had swallowed the sun and hopefully it was going to reappear. i'm sure that

everybody in that moment, you can't get away from that feeling embedded, something mysterious or dreadful, however you might want to put it. i'm assuring that people today across the us are going to have to think about that moment, and it will be crystallised in their minds. it's a bit like comics, these problems people used to see in the sky and imagine all sorts of things. native american indians, i was reading about this before we came in the studio, depending on their tribe, some were very nervous studio, depending on their tribe, some were very nervous but studio, depending on their tribe, some were very nervous but others, in the way we are hearing, would celebrate it as proof that nature is taking its course. i love the description of everybody going berserk, because they had a sort of emotional response, a welling up from people, getting into it one of my colleagues is out in the us at the moment, and he's seen, it might be his second or his third wicket and, in his last one, he got watery

eyed at the experience.” and, in his last one, he got watery eyed at the experience. i don't know if that man is getting watery eyed? that is president trump. we were told that he and melania were looking up at the sky. i don't think they will get a total eclipse where they will get a total eclipse where they are. but a substantial partial eclipse, so well worth a view with eclipse, so well worth a view with eclipse viewing glasses or whatever they have at hand. there we are, he is talking away. i don't know whether he is seeing it at the moment and we are a bit unclear... we should know, we have all sorts of timetables and maps, but the president seems to be looking down at his people on the ground there is his wife, melania. 0h, he says, what ami his wife, melania. 0h, he says, what am i looking at? the sun is up there, you know, dear. that's it. and somebody saying, the vice president, mike pence is there, as well. and it is that the president

out his glasses? that's my presence —— mike pence, the vice president. he has his glasses on. this is president trump, as we were saying. melania as dark glasses on. i don't know if they are the right things. you have to be careful that they have been certified and verified for solar eclipse. indeed. that pillar is in our way. that is a white house balcony we are looking at. they have definitely got their glasses, looking up. there is the president again. just slightly out of shot. i can see that famous quip, i think you'd call it, of his hair. —— famous quip. in case you arejust joining in and wondering what donald trump is doing today, well, he isn't in the process of tweeting or doing

anything else, he is looking, like so anything else, he is looking, like so many millions of americans, at this amazing total eclipse in some places, probably a partial eclipse in washington, but still a very powerful site. 0h in washington, but still a very powerful site. oh yes, in washington, but still a very powerfulsite. oh yes, melania in washington, but still a very powerful site. oh yes, melania does have special glasses pulled out, is that ivanka trump? yes, his daughter, i think. that ivanka trump? yes, his daughter, ithink. she that ivanka trump? yes, his daughter, i think. she has the glasses on. just for a moment, the men at the centre of it... oh, president trump in the glasses. and looking at the eclipse. like so many millions of his fellow americans. just for a moment, all the things that are worrying us all, north korea, it may be, or the american economy, goings—on in washington, who did what to who and said what to do, it's being put aside for a few moments to look at one of the most

spectacular sights nature has to offer. that is a toklas clips —— total eclipse of the sun, or a near eclipse, which is probably what they are getting in washington. it looks like a beautiful day, so they will get plenty of effect from it. the president seems as gripped by it now. we have been talking to a lot of people on the ground in the last hour or two. all of them saying the same thing, we were looking forward to it but, my goodness, what an amazing spectacle it was when it came down. and the eclipse, the last bit of land that the total eclipse will touch will be in south carolina. that's to say charleston in south carolina. that is what we are seeing in charleston. in four minutes, we are told, less than that, they will have a total eclipse. i think i'm right in saying that that will be the last place.

and in collins from the oak circuitry of greenwich —— royal 0bservatory circuitry of greenwich —— royal observatory of greenwich. that's right. he has to come to a sad end, sadly. we will be over the past, the shadow, the path will be over. people have this moment that they can people have this moment that they ca n ca ptu re people have this moment that they can capture in their memories, and hopefully there are some skilled photographers. donald trump's son. like all young people, probably thinking, yeah, it's all right, what ami thinking, yeah, it's all right, what am i supposed to do now, shall i put the glasses back on? there is always time for a politician to give the crowd a wave at the same time, of course, not about to pass up that chance. i think charleston, south carolina will be the last place in the united states to get a good side

of the total escape —— of the total eclipse. it will last two minutes, 40 seconds or so. and the path of the eclipse will run out into the atla ntic the eclipse will run out into the atlantic ocean. people like nasa, who have high flying aeroplanes, will be able to carry on looking at this remarkable phenomenon. that's right, and nasa also has a fleet of space observatories, space telescopes that monitor the sun 24/7, and some of them may be in position to see some of the eclipse occurring. we have had a fantastic array of images, including from specially filtered telescopes to give a view of the bubbling surface of the sun as well as just a plain disc. it's a chance to see the sun as well as these moments occurring, when it is obscured by the moon. this is charleston, south carolina. 0ne this is charleston, south carolina. one and a half minutes, apparently, and it will be a total eclipse. as i

say, the last place in the united states that will get that incredible experience of having the moon passed in front of the sun, reducing the temperature. some people said it had gone down ten or 15 fahrenheit. and the exposure is changing to compensate, because it will be getting darker, and they should be left with the last glimpses, where the sunlight shines and streams through the valleys of the moon. some differing views or reports of exactly when they had a last total eclipse on this scale. perhaps we go back almost a century, 1919 has been talked about. and we had our own total eclipse in 1999 in the uk, good old clouds obscuring it for a lot of people. but i remember that business of the temperature going down, the birds stopping singing, a chill coming over the place. even

though 90% or whatever it was in ireland, we still had that moment where it was dark enough... here we go. this is probably from the ground, this will be, or close to the ground, 20 seconds until we absolutely have a total eclipse of the sun, the last place in america, charleston, south carolina, to see this amazing event. not very often we show you a black screen deliberately. but this is a rather special occasion. it is the son of little rating for two minutes, 41 seconds precisely, according to brendan 0wens from the greenwich 0bservatory. —— it is the son of little rating. that's the time you have when the sun is

com pletely time you have when the sun is completely blotted out. the temperature falls and it's an extraordinary feeling for everybody. eventually, we will look on the right—hand side, to the right of the screen for the first end. what have they done here? they are showing us, what are they showing us? 0h, they done here? they are showing us, what are they showing us? oh, it's the crowd on the ground. look at that. i would the crowd on the ground. look at that. iwould imagine the crowd on the ground. look at that. i would imagine that is their phone cameras. it gives you a good impression of how the light levels have gone right down. you remember that, brendan? absolutely. just waiting for the sunlight to stream back through again. i guess this time around, technology has come on a way, so smartphones, people may be attempting to take shots that would not have been possible for the previous eclipses of the 1970s, for

instance, for america. i am sure social media will be peppered with amazing artistic views of that moment. look, brendan, the bottom right about 5pm, if you like. yes, it's going back through. this is the moon moving across the face of the sun. we are spinning at about 1000 mph and the moon is orbiting at about 2000 mph, so it is overall getting out of the way of the sun, and we are getting a thin crescent of sunshine, and everybody should have an instinctual reaction to put their solar eclipse glowing glasses back on after experiencing totality and getting to see the sun being revealed again. and the temperature should start to rise. various cloud, presumably... i presume it is. this

is unusual, when you have got a thin crescent song that, shadows become incredibly sharp. there is a rippling shadow effect that can be seen on rippling shadow effect that can be seen on the ground. so they will be some eerie signs that people will see, even at this point after totality. i think this is a change of location for the camera i would imagine. 0h, of location for the camera i would imagine. oh, yes. we can dimly see it. it is a skilled job, isn't it, to make sure that the camera can see, so to speak, and register what's going on. you've got to keep changing the equipment. for people looking with eclipse viewing glasses, they would have significantly seen the difference between the thin crescent sun as it disappears to complete darkness, so that's a distinct change, and having to change around those exposure settings is quite tricky, and i'm

sure there are plenty of eclipse chasing photographers who have mastered it. i think we will properly see pictures on the pages of tomorrow morning's newspapers, which will we —— which we will be reviewing at about 10:30pm. and we should emphasise this, a great moment for scientists and people like yourself, astronomers, to understand a little more of the sun itself, which we totally depend upon, so itself, which we totally depend upon, so we itself, which we totally depend upon, so we need to know as much as we can about it. historically, these moments have been incredibly significant. the 1919 eclipse provided us with a back—up for einstein's general theory of relativity, help improve that, so even though we have spaced telescopes and a fast technology, these moments are something you can't get any more. —— and advanced technology. it's the only chance we

view the sun's at ‘s atmosphere in a particular way. presumably instrumentation gets better all the time. it does, but using particular wavelengths of light, especially infrared, during these eclipses, we get to probe something that normal space telescopes don't get to do, so we took advantage of this moment, and there are plenty of citizens science projects, people helping contributing their experiences to feed into the databases that nasa and scientific institutions. these are pictures from nasa, so probably from a plane, i think, are pictures from nasa, so probably from a plane, ithink, giving are pictures from nasa, so probably from a plane, i think, giving us a very good few indeed of the eclipse of the sun, which has crossed over a wide swathe of america, from west to east, a total eclipse in the middle of that sweep. charleston, south carolina, which is where these pictures are coming from, will be the last place on the american

mainland to witness the eclipse. and there you see, the people down below, talking among themselves, what did you think, what did you see? this is what the total solar eclipse looked like right across the united states, 70 miles wide, seen from all sorts of states. we've talked to people in all sorts of places and they have expressed their amazement, therefore of these extraordinary sites, and, as brendan was saying, in these days, with social media, everybody has a camera in their phones, and more and more pictures than ever before, and more scientific investigation. so, there you are, brendan. you are off to see your own eclipse, in the early 20 20s. your own eclipse, in the early 20 205. i your own eclipse, in the early 20 20s. i don't suppose we need to whet your appetite, but just to 20s. i don't suppose we need to whet your appetite, butjust to confirm its going to be amazing for you. an amazing experience for millions in

america. even though i'm very envious, it's wonderful to share in this moment. everybody isjoined in their passion for this, and i like to think that you've got a new generation of eclipse hunters that are born on this day from those young family members who will get hooked and may make their own journeys around the world over the decades to come. brendan owens from the royal observatory at greenwich, thank you forjoining us and helping us thank you forjoining us and helping us understand to some extent the total eclipse in the united states. helen ghosh was in oregon and he described what he saw. we are a few seconds away from the total eclipse, and the moon is almost completely covered the sun. it looks like a smiley face in the sky. here is what to watch for in the last few moments. the last rays of the sun will go through the moon's craters

and appearlike will go through the moon's craters and appear like beads, and then it will twinkle like a diamond ring, and here it comes, let's watch. there it is, the great american eclipse has begun. that was our science editorjoining in the excitement. this final look at what so many americans have been seen at what so many americans have been seenin at what so many americans have been seen in the last few hours, a great swathe of the united states, people we re swathe of the united states, people were seen swathe of the united states, people were seen this was the clear skies in most places, beautiful weather, and the view interrupted in the most magical and amazing way. two minutes and 40 seconds, total eclipse right across the united states of america. you have to wait a long time to see such a sight again.

now let's get the latest on the weather. rain is set to move north and east across scotland overnight and it will be heavy at times. the south will be heavy at times. the south will have clearer skies, missed and merck forming, but it will be a mild night. temperature is widely sitting in meat double digits —— mixed double digits by the morning. the crack... as we go through the morning, hopefully we will start to see some sunshine coming through across much of england and wales. cloud and rain returning to northern ireland and eventually the isle of man, so the temperature is a bit more subdued, with early rain clearing from scotland. 14 to 20 degrees. for the south, the best brea ks degrees. for the south, the best breaks in the cloud, widely mid—20s and perhaps a bit higher. that humid air is not set to last. the rain thatis air is not set to last. the rain that is moving into northern ireland

is courtesy of a cold front and, as it sweeps east, it will introduce fresh, showery conditions, especially in the far north—west. this is bbc news. the headlines at 8:00 — spanish police have confirmed they've shot dead younes abouyaaqoub, the man thought to have driven into crowds in barcelona, killing 13 people. he was shot this afternoon west of barcelona. the authorities say he appeared to be wearing a suicide belt. gripped by dark skies in the united states, the total solar eclipse that has swept coast—to—coast. it is the first time in over 100 years it has stretched from the east to west coast of the united states. millions of people across america, including the president and first lady, have turned out to see a total eclipse.