Shimla, July 22 - A partial solar eclipse was witnessed amidst partly cloudy skies across Himachal Pradesh Wednesday, officials here said.

'The partial solar eclipse began at 6.24 a.m. and was seen through partly cloudy skies for the maximum three minutes in the many parts of the hill state,' R.K. Sood, joint member secretary of the Himachal State Council for Science Technology and Environment, told IANS.

Sood said that a large number of people, especially schoolchildren, witnessed the eclipse through the clouds on the historic Ridge in Shimla.

Manmohan Singh, director of the meteorological office here, said: 'Clouds remained an intermittent problem across the state, with most areas reporting partly and heavy overcast conditions.'

'It's awesome,' said Bran Hopson, a British tourist who witnessed the century's longest total solar eclipse from Shimla's Ridge.