Though the day was cloudy there was dramatic coverage of the solar eclipse as it passed over Ireland and Europe earlier today.

The eclipse begins about 30 minutes into the YouTube live footage from the Daily Telegraph.

Around 8.30am across Ireland the skies became darker and temperatures dropped as 95 percent of the sun was covered by the moon.

The West of ireland saw the greatest extent of the eclipse with over 95 percent of the sun covered. It is very rare that Ireland experiences such a phenomenon. The last partial eclipse visible from Ireland took place in August 1999.

The darkness reached it’s height at 9:30am Irish time with thousands outside watching the phenomenon which will not occur again until 2026.

Read more: Solar eclipse over Ireland - what you need to know

Here's some photos of the amazing event taken around Ireland:

Read more: Solar eclipse over Ireland - what you need to know