Overview
- The total solar eclipse, which occurs on Wednesday, Aug. 12, will trace a narrow path of totality across eastern Greenland, western Iceland and northern Spain and produce up to about 2 minutes 18 seconds of total darkness at maximum.
- Much of the UK will see a deep partial eclipse with the southwest nearest the path seeing roughly 94–96 percent obscuration and local UK timings placing first contact in early evening, maximum about 7:05–7:16 p.m. BST and the event ending around 8:00–8:10 p.m. BST.
- Authorities warn that certified ISO 12312-2 eclipse glasses or proper solar filters are required for all partial phases, and observers unable to view in person can follow multiple live broadcasts being organised by ESA, NASA and major observatories.
- Grid operators expect short-term losses in solar generation that must be balanced by other sources, with Red Eléctrica estimating up to about 5 gigawatts in Spain and Britain's system operator forecasting up to about 1.3 gigawatts of reduced output.
- The eclipse falls on a new moon and coincides with the Perseid meteor shower peak, creating an unusually dark night for meteor-watching while also driving heavy demand for viewing gear, travel to coastal vantage points and increased local crowd-management measures.