![\"WEST](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/newsletter_we_final_embed_desktop.png\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The UK will see its most complete solar eclipse<\/a> in over a quarter of a century on August 12. <\/p>\n The phenomenon means the moon<\/a> will pass directly between the Earth and the sun<\/a>, blocking the sun\u2019s light almost entirely. <\/p>\n It is estimated that around 90% of the sun will be covered by the moon, triggering a rare and stunning natural phenomenon. <\/p>\n There won\u2019t be a better eclipse in Britain until 2090, so you won\u2019t want to miss this one. <\/p>\n But the phenomenon is not without its risks and Londoners should take care as they try to catch a glimpse. <\/p>\n The last total solar eclipse which could be seen from the UK was in 1999 <\/p>\n PA Archive<\/p>\n Here is everything you need to know about the solar eclipse: <\/p>\n Eclipses occur when the moon blocks the sun, roughly every six months. Though the sun is some 400 times larger than the moon, it is 400 times further away. <\/p>\n However, this year is different, as the moon will almost entirely block the sun. <\/p>\n When is the solar eclipse? <\/p>\n This year\u2019s solar eclipse<\/a> will begin at 6:17pm on August 12 for those based in London<\/a>, Bristol, and Cardiff. <\/p>\n The height of the eclipse is expected at 7:13pm for Londoners and it will last around 1 hour and 49 minutes until 8:06pm. <\/p>\n For those in Manchester and Liverpool, the eclipse will commence at 6:13pm, while for those in Scotland, the eclipse will begin closer to 6:08pm. <\/p>\n Some European countries, like Greenland and Iceland, are set to experience a total eclipse. <\/p>\n How to watch the eclipse safely <\/p>\n Partial solar eclipses carry more risks than total solar eclipses, because the latter involves the sun being entirely covered, albeit only briefly. <\/p>\n It is not safe to look at the sun without sun protection<\/p>\n AFP\/Getty<\/p>\n During a partial solar eclipse, it is never safe to look at the sun without eye protection, even though it looks as though it is being blocked by the moon. <\/p>\n Regular sunglasses don\u2019t quite cut it for protecting your eyes and those who want to gaze at the sky will need to buy approved solar glasses. <\/p>\n This means the shades need to have an ISO 12312-2 international safety rating and an optical density of at least 5.0. <\/p>\n Alternatively, the Royal Observatory is livestreaming the eclipse for free so you can watch safely. <\/p>\n You can also check with your local astronomical society to see if they\u2019re running any eclipse-viewing events on August 12 or you can build your own pinhole projector.<\/p>\n Where to watch the solar eclipse in London<\/p>\n There are plenty of apps which will help you find the clearest possible view of the eclipse, including Eclipse Horizon Checker. <\/p>\n But the general rule of thumb is that high vantage points in elevated spots like Primrose Hill and Greenwich Park will be the best place to secure a view. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The UK will see its most complete solar eclipse in over a quarter of a century on August…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":92254,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[26],"tags":[39381,27,26276,39382,39383],"class_list":["post-92253","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-london","tag-eclipse","tag-london","tag-moon","tag-solar-eclipse","tag-sun"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@UnitedKingdom\/116999562070814336","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92253","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=92253"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92253\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/92254"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=92253"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=92253"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=92253"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/2413fc49303c276f60e4e292006ec681Y29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNzEyNjk0MTU3-2.69453435.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n