Total solar eclipse crosses parts of Europe tonight

scienceAug 12, 20261172,184

The Moon will pass directly between Earth and the Sun on Wednesday 12 August, producing a total solar eclipse whose path of totality crosses a wide band of north and central Spain, a sliver of Portugal, and parts of Greenland and Iceland. Much of western Europe including the UK, France, Belgium, Switzerland and northern Italy will see a deep partial eclipse as the setting Sun is virtually blocked. In Spain the total eclipse will peak between 20:26 and 20:33 local time depending on location. In London the partial eclipse begins at 18:17 BST, reaches maximum at 19:13 BST and ends at 20:06 BST, with about 92% of the Sun obscured there; Cornwall will see roughly 96% coverage and western Scotland about 93%. This is the first total eclipse visible from mainland Europe in two decades; the last UK total was in 1999 and the next UK total is not due until 2090, while experts say this is the deepest UK partial eclipse since 1999. Astronomers urge viewers to use certified eclipse glasses or other safe viewing methods and to pick an unobstructed western horizon because the event will be low in the sky for much of Europe.

European Space Agency

@esa.int

Eclipse day! ☀️ Today's total solar eclipse is visible from Greenland, Iceland, northeastern Portugal and Spain. Most of the rest of Europe, northern North America and western Africa will witness a partial solar eclipse. More info: www.esa.int/Science_Expl... #EuropeanSolarEclipse

Map of Earth shown as a globe, with the focus on its northern hemisphere. A red, C-shaped arc marked 'total eclipse' reaches from northeast Russia, past the North Pole, Greenland, Iceland and the Iberian Peninsula. An orange oval surrounds this arc, marked 'partial eclipse', covering most of Europe, Canada and parts of the USA, the western edge of Africa and the northeastern corner of Russia.

1835h ago

Quoting this

Richard McElreath 🐈‍⬛5

On Jupiter, every day is eclipse day. Luckily no one lives there to hurt their eyes by staring at it.

Amanda

@pandamoanimum.bsky.social

Shout out to anyone else of a certain age who automatically thinks of this every time the solar eclipse is mentioned.

1815h ago

Steve B2

Always. Stuck with me from the first moment I saw it. Can't explain why. Thank you, Amanda. Thought I was alone on this one all this time.

Quoting this

Jane Duke3

Amanda is quite right. I had already thought of this at least once this morning.

John Scalzi

@scalzi.com

Happy eclipse viewing today for everyone in its path, the one that went over our house in 2024 was absolutely amazing www.theguardian.com/science/2026...

2395h ago

Judy Bott4

I’m in Isafjördur, Iceland for it!!

Rachel Gutin3

Thank you! Here’s hoping I don’t melt before totality. (It’s going to be over 100 degrees here in Zaragoza!)

Mumko692

I was in Ohio for this one too

Dave2

It's only going to be a partial eclipse in the UK, which makes it a very poor tribute to Bonnie Tyler.

Dan C-K they/them2

I'm in Iceland for it!!!!

Christopher Meyer-Kretschmer1

Only a partial eclipse in Germany, and very close to sundown, so we might not even see it without a very good vantage spot.

Quoting this

Kameron Hurley23

This was such an amazing experience that we actually briefly considered flying out to Spain for this one. That's how great it is. Brings you right back to little kid sense of wonder and awe at how incredible it is to be alive on this spinning rock.

Kate / Katelyn Forrest4

I've seen two and it's frickin amazing.

Tracy, Making Games3

We drove up to Toledo for totality and it was stunning!

Orkney Library & Archive

@orkneylibrary.bsky.social

Hoping for clear skies later so we can add a new #SolarEclipse photo to our collection. Like this one that Tom Kent took 114 years ago of a solar eclipse over Kirkwall #Orkney in April 1912. Taken 2 days after the sinking of the Titanic. Archives are amazing. ❤️

A black and white archive photograph showing the silhouette of the spire of St Magnus Cathedral and a partial eclipse of the sun in the sky above it.

1763h ago

maggie-perhaps.bsky.social1

Surely the eclipse on Orkney is a regular occurrence due to your balls blocking the sun?

The Empty City

@davidallengreen.bsky.social

Economists say that an exceptional upsurge in buying eclipse-proof glasses has likely caused today’s solar eclipse.

1545h ago

John Rob6

Has Jacob Rees-Mogg popped up on GBees yet to insist that the Eclipse is a direct benefit of leaving the EU?

Martin 马丁 Holterman3

Well yes, the cause logically has to precede the effect.

Kev 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🇬🇧🇪🇺🇺🇳💚🖖 he/him1

Copy editors are shuddering for the upcoming surge of ellipsis in submitted copy...

Whitby Gothic

@whitbygothic.bsky.social

+++ A Friendly Word of Warning! +++ For those of you currently in the dust bowl, that is the UK. ;-) #eclipse #solareclipse #theSun

735h ago

Folk Horror Revival 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️

@folkhorrorrevival.bsky.social

'Solar #eclipse. Chiapas, Mexico' photographed by Antonio Turok, 1991 #WyrdWednesday

Black and white photograph of a landscape with a solar eclipse with the Sun totally covered and the corona all around. The landscape is a bare one with low hills in the background and a rustic gate and fence in the foreground with a small bush just behind. The air is filled with flying birds. The whole scene is rather eerie.

595h ago

madeline odent

@oldenoughtosay.com

It’s not that I don’t care about the solar eclipse, I do, it’s just that I used up all my clever posts during the 2017 total eclipse and it takes me over a decade to restock

695h ago

Library of the Royal Irish Academy

@rialibrary.bsky.social

Total eclipse of the heart! Did you know we hold two copies of only three known Irish translations of Messahalah's De orbibus coelestibus? Our astronomical tracts date from the 14th or early 15th century, and the third copy is held by our friends at @marshslibrary.bsky.social 🌘🔭

Lunar eclipse diagram, from RIA MS B ii 2, p. 12

334h ago

Marsh's Library

@marshslibrary.bsky.social

Happy solar eclipse day! The solar eclipse of the 8th April 1652 as recorded by the great Polish astronomer Johannes Hevelius in his Selenographia #SolarEclipse

Plate showing observations of the sun during a lunar eclipse

385h ago

ESA Exploration

@exploration.esa.int

🌘 What does a solar eclipse look like from space? The four Artemis II astronauts witnessed this stunning sight, and thanks to a camera on the spacecraft's European-built solar arrays, the rest of us can enjoy the view too 😎. 📸 NASA

The Moon, seen here backlit by the Sun during a solar eclipse witnessed by the four Artemis II astronauts as they flew behind the Moon. Orion is visible in the foreground on the left. Earth is reflecting sunlight at the left edge of the Moon, which is slightly brighter than the rest of the disk.

304h ago

Quoting this

ESA en français3

☀️ À quoi ressemble une éclipse solaire depuis l’espace ? Les quatre astronautes d’ArtemisII ont pu admirer ce spectacle exceptionnel. Grâce à une caméra installée sur les panneaux solaires construits en Europe du vaisseau spatial, nous pouvons nous aussi en profiter. 🚀

TechnicallyRon

@technicallyron.bsky.social

A lot of media today explaining not to look at the solar eclipse so we can be pretty sure that the majority of the British population will blind themselves this evening.

374h ago

Paul Putner

@realpaulputner.bsky.social

Do NOT smell the solar eclipse tonight. Sniffing directly into the sun could seriously damage your olfactory settings. You MUST acquire this special mask. Nothing else will protect your nose. Just £99:99! I'll post order details later. Please allow up to 3 working days for delivery.

324h ago

The Public Domain Review

@publicdomainrev.bsky.social

How NOT to watch the eclipse today! A Conjugal Eclipse, from J. J. Grandville's Another World, 1844. One of several Grandville prints available in our shop: https://publicdomainreview.org/shop/fine-art-prints/artist/j.-j.-grandville/ #eclipse #solareclipse

272h ago

Dr Juliette

@ferrydanini.bsky.social

Last total eclipse I was a kid hiking around Mont Blanc and having a pit stop in Chamonix, glacier was still around too

my mother, me and my brother, behind us a glacier

434h ago

3 sources

theguardian.comEurope’s total solar eclipse: the best place to see it and how to view it safely bloomberg.comSolar Eclipse to Flip the Off Switch on Europe’s Solar Farms usatoday.comWhat time is the partial solar eclipse? When to look up in your area

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Total solar eclipse crosses parts of Europe tonight

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