Will I see the eclipse?

Partial solar eclipse · Wednesday 12 August 2026 · UK

Never look at the Sun — not even when it's nearly all covered, and never through sunglasses, a phone camera or binoculars. Binoculars or a telescope will burn your eye in seconds. Eclipse glasses must be marked ISO 12312-2.
No eclipse glasses? Watch it safely like this Make a pinhole in a piece of card with a pin. Stand with your back to the Sun, hold the card up so the sunbeam passes through it, and catch the beam on a second piece of white card about 40 cm behind — you'll see the crescent. A kitchen colander works even better, casting dozens of crescents. The Sun is very low on Wednesday, so aim the beam at a card or a wall, not at the ground, where the image smears out and vanishes.

Showing an example spot (Alexandra Palace, London) — enter your address above, or scroll down and tap the map.

What happens there

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Pick a spot

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The view from there

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What's in front of you? Trees and fences aren't in the map data — add them here.

Real skyline from 30 m elevation data plus OpenStreetMap building heights. Trees aren't mapped anywhere, so add what's actually in front of you above — at this Sun altitude it usually decides the answer.

It won't go dark

This is a partial eclipse everywhere in the UK — the Moon never covers the Sun completely. Even at 90-odd per cent you get no stars, no corona and no sudden night. What you get is stranger and easier to miss: the light goes flat and slightly metallic, colours dull, shadows sharpen, and it feels like a thunderstorm is coming that never arrives. Sunset is only about twenty minutes after the eclipse ends, so the sky will be warming towards gold at the same time.

If you look up expecting darkness you will think nothing happened. Look through eclipse glasses and you will see a crescent Sun — that's the show.

Photographing it

Pointing a phone straight at the Sun without a filter will not blind you, but it can damage the camera sensor, and the picture will be a white blob regardless. Hold a spare pair of eclipse glasses over the lens and tap to focus — that gives you the crescent. Never look through an optical viewfinder, binoculars or a telescope aimed at the Sun: those concentrate the light and will injure your eye in seconds.

The easier photograph is the ground. Find dappled shade under a leafy tree — every gap between the leaves acts as a pinhole and projects dozens of tiny crescents onto the pavement.

If it's cloudy

Thin high cloud is fine — often better, since it dims the glare. Thick low cloud is not, and there is no fix except moving, which is why this tool shows the forecast next to the verdict.

If you're clouded out, the Time and Date live stream carries the total eclipse from Spain and Iceland, where the Sun disappears completely. The next one visible from the UK is 2 August 2027 — about 42% covered, and far higher in the sky than this one.