Partial solar eclipse Aug 2026

On the evening of 12 August 2026 there was a partial solar eclipse, amounting to about 95% in the UK. Full coverage was seen in Spain and Iceland. 

In this eclipse the sun was covered by the moon. It was the fullest solar eclipse visible from the UK and Ireland since 1999 (which I missed).

I watched it from Worthing pier in West Sussex, on the south coast of England. Luckily I still had some solar eclipse glasses from an eclipse on 29 March 2025. This was a partial solar eclipse and I was on a cruise ship, sailing north from the Azores to UK. It had been too cloudy to see the sun.

In Worthing, the eclipse began at about 6.18pm and reached its maximum at 7.14pm, lasting around one hour and 49 minutes in total. There had been so much build up in the media, including how it would get dark and go quiet and the birds stop singing and go to bed. In reality it didn't get very dark as the coverage was not total. But it did get noticeably cooler, especially was England was in its 5th heatwave of the summer.

I took the photos on my phone, so they are not good, but are better than nothing!