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

Enter an address to see the local circumstances.

Pick a spot

Click anywhere to test it. The marker is draggable.

The view from there

—
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.