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

This video can not be played 'Maybe the message is getting through': Surgeon on eclipse eye damage Eye experts are warning people to be on the alert for any signs their vision has been damaged '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 . Normally if we stare at it, we wince and quickly look away. 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 a condition known as "solar retinopathy". And because the retina has no pain receptors, it's hard for people to notice the damage as it happens, so symptoms may only appear several hours later. Leading up to the eclipse itself, experts were warning only genuine specially-designed solar eclipse glasses should be used, and that ordinary sunglasses or other devices were not enough to prevent potential damage. There are local eye casualties as well. And most hospitals will have an eye doctor on call."