LAND'S END, England, Aug 10 - Tempers frayed and druids prayed on
Tuesday -- but still the storm clouds swirled around in the final
countdown to the last solar eclipse before the millennium.

Up to 7,500 people an hour poured into the western English county of
Cornwall, undeterred by gloomy weather reports that they had only a
20 percent chance of getting an uninterrupted view of
Wednesday's eclipse.

The eclipse will hit Cornwall just after 11:00 am (1000 GMT) and then
race across Europe and the Middle East before ending in the Bay of
Bengal.

In France, eclipse fever has taken hold, with the country laying on art
shows, concerts and parties, while in Iran, American astronaut
Russell Schweickart, who made a space walk in 1969, is paying a visit.

In Jordan, air raid sirens will mark the beginning and end of the
eclipse.

Back in England, Cornwall's arch druid Ed Prynn was working overtime to
ensure nature's spectacular light show would be cloud-free.

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