Paris (France) (AFP) – Suddenly, the world is plunged into an eerie, violet darkness. The temperature drops. Birds and other animals, bewildered by unforeseen night, start behaving strangely. Stars and planets appear in the sky next to the blotted-out Sun.
Issued on: 05/08/2026 - 04:26Modified: 05/08/2026 - 04:29
4 min Reading time
It is this awe-inspiring experience that will draw people from all over the world to northern Spain next week in the hope of witnessing a total solar eclipse."It feels like it's the end of the world... you're changed forever if you see one," said Elizabeth Warning, one of four self-described "eclipse-chasers" who spoke to AFP ahead of the August 12 event.However, with devastating fires still raging in some areas of Spain where the eclipse will be visible, the 51-year-old TV researcher may cancel her plans to travel from Sydney, Australia. "It's very sad," Warning said. But as an Australian well-versed with the threat of bushfires, she said her heart went out to people in Spain mourning "lost houses and lost loved ones".
Some people travel across the world to see total solar eclipses © Eugene Gologursky / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/File
