Large parts of north and central Spain, plus smaller parts of Portugal, Greenland and Iceland, will see a total solar eclipse on Wednesday – with the phenomenon also visible in the south of France. Starting near the North Pole before tracking south, the total eclipse will last up to two minutes and 18 seconds, with the partial eclipse visible across much of Western Europe, including the United Kingdom, Belgium, Switzerland and northern Italy.
Issued on: 12/08/2026 - 07:44
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"Standing within the shadow of the Moon,” says Fred Espenak – a Nasa scientist known as "Mr Eclipse" – gives us “a rare opportunity to gaze directly at the halo of million-degree plasma surrounding our star." The solar corona – consisting of tongues of fire stretching thousands of kilometres from the surface of the Sun – “is revealed to the naked eye only during the brief seconds when the Moon completely blocks the brilliant disc of the Sun," he explains.
Total solar eclipse seen from the NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio, 8 April, 2024. © NASA/Jordan Salkin
