IT’S A phenomenon that was observed by the earliest settlers in this country, but this year was the first time people in the UK shared their eclipse experiences on social media.

From the first chink out of the sun’s orb, sites were inundated with photographs, tweets and status updates on the event, and Oxfordshire was no exception.

People used the Twitter hashtag #solareclipseox to send out local updates on the national trend.

Nick Sanders tweeted at 9.42am: “Great view of the eclipse at Tubney Woods despite the cloud. Feeling much colder now & the birds have stopped singing! #solareclipseox”.

Our top stories

The Oxford Mail was sent more than 130 photos from readers wanting to share their snaps of the hidden sun and more than 6,400 of you read our live blog.

Twitter user @bonaireblue tweeted us a beautiful picture with the caption: “@TheOxfordMail what an experience near Kirtlington stud.”

Even schools in the county joined in the fun.

St John’s Priory School, Banbury, tweeted: “Sunshine Breakfast a huge hit with children & families who watched from the lawn & playground through safety viewers #solareclipseox”.

And Cokethorpe School near Faringdon tweeted us to say: “Our pupils loved watching the #SolarEclipse2015”.

Thames Valley Police even joined in the fun with this tweet: “We are currently investigating an attempted theft of the sun. Please tweet us if you have info. #Eclipse2015”.

See our reader photos and the eclipse as it happened at tinyurl.com/mkaygvz