Eclipse warning: The key signs you may have damaged your eyes

Eye experts are warning people to be on the alert for any signs their vision has been damaged by looking at the sun during Wednesday's eclipse.

The symptoms can include blurred vision, a central blind or dark spot and increased sensitivity to light.

After the previous total eclipse of the sun that was visible in the UK in 1999, around 70 people were left with damaged sight.

Many of them had spent less than a minute looking at the spectacle, without realising they were harming their eyes.

The danger comes because staring at an eclipse without protection can damage the retina, which sits at the back of the eye, and particularly those cells responsible for sharp central vision.

The sun is incredibly bright, even when partially obscured by the moon.

But when it is darker, during an eclipse, that instinct may not kick in, even while our eyes are being damaged.

The bright light and ultraviolet radiation given off by the sun can lead to a condition known as "solar retinopathy".