After all the hype, E-day has finally arrived. There may only be a 20 per cent chance of seeing the moon appear to touch the sun above Cornwall during today's eclipse, but even if the clouds roll in from the western skies and cover the south-west of England no one here seems to mind.
Last-minute arrangements have swung into action in Cornwall. Most residents are planning to watch "the event of the millennium" from their gardens. Others will watch this natural phenomenon from high vantage points away from street lights, where they will light barbecues and drink champagne in anticipation of the darkening skies and plunging temperatures associated with a solar eclipse.
If they are not attending one of the large music festivals on the Lizard in southern Cornwall or in Plymouth, most visitors are expected to watch the eclipse against the dramatic backdrops of Pendennis Castle, in Falmouth, or St Michael's Mount, near Penzance.
But some of the 1.5 million visitors to Devon and Cornwall this week have left their plans almost to the last minute.
Chad Greene (18) and his friend, Iain Ahweng (18), both from Manitoba in Canada, travelled to Falmouth from Scotland yesterday "on a whim" after a fellow backpacker told them about the eclipse.
"We arrived today and we've nowhere to stay, but we're prepared to sleep in a field if we have to," said Chad. "We heard about the eclipse and that Falmouth would be in the path of totality, so we thought why not. We'll never get the chance to see it again, even if it is cloudy," added Iain.
People won't just be watching the eclipse from land. Thousands of small boats are dotted around the Cornish coast offering eclipse cruises. However, an attempt by a Cornish businessman to entice visitors to pay for a short flight from RAF Culdrose to watch the eclipse has failed to capture the imagination.
"I think too many businesses tried to do too many things to get the visitors to spend money during the eclipse," said Ms Clare Dempsey, the owner of a small hotel in Falmouth. "In the end, even if it's cloudy, we can all just look up into the sky to see something dramatic. The eclipse factor has brought out the money-grabbing instinct in some people, but many businesses have found they just couldn't bring in the money."
Among the events struggling to attract visitors this week have been several small music festivals. Two have closed early and others have been cancelled with just a few hours' notice because the organisers couldn't sell enough tickets. Poor weather in the past few days has not helped the festival organisers. As a result of poor ticket sales only the larger festivals are expected to break even.
Devon and Cornwall police have reported very few crimes associated with visitors to the area to watch the eclipse. A skirmish between about 100 officers and 20 New Age travellers in Truro, Cornwall, yesterday was the most serious incident. A standoff between police, who were wearing helmets and carrying shields, and the travellers began after council workers attempted to remove sound equipment from the travellers' campsite at the Moon Mooners' festival.
Residents had complained about loud music, and because the site did not have a public entertainment licence, the council ordered the removal of sound systems.
During the skirmish a child was sprayed in the face with CS gas and was treated by an ambulance crew at the site. Two loudspeakers and a generator were removed after a 30-minute police operation and police then left the area.
For most people, however, the eclipse will be a memorable moment, whatever the weather. Mary Stuttard, visiting the village of Coverack in Cornwall yesterday, summed up most people's thoughts about this unusual event: "Why watch it on television when I have the chance to see a magical moment in the sky with my own eyes?"