The total eclipse of the sun was last night looking dangerously like a flop for Cornwall - unless thousands more people make a late dash there.
Barely one in 10 of the number of eclipse-watchers expected in the county had arrived so far, tourist officials admitted. Figures released yesterday showed that 82,000 extra holidaymakers have so far entered the county.
Weather forecasts meanwhile predicted an 80 per cent chance of cloudy conditions across Devon and Cornwall on Wednesday.
The main rush has been to the far west of Cornwall, where the moon will be seen to blot out the sun for a maximum of two minutes and six seconds along a line between Penzance and Falmouth.
There had been a heavy take-up of booking for accommodation of all kinds along and around the line of maximum totality, tourist officials confirmed. But further east in Cornwall there were plenty of vacancies.