Total solar eclipse crosses Europe

A total solar eclipse has crossed Europe, the first to be seen on the European mainland since 1999, with a deep partial eclipse visible across Britain.

The eclipse took place on 12 August. In Britain and Ireland, the Moon covered more than 90 per cent of the Sun at the peak.

The path of totality

The Moon's shadow began in northern Siberia and passed across the Arctic, close to the North Pole, before crossing Greenland, Iceland and the Atlantic Ocean. It then swept across northern Spain, a small part of Portugal, the Mediterranean and the Balearic Islands.

Cities in the path of totality included A Coruna, Bilbao, Zaragoza, Valencia and Palma. Madrid and Barcelona were just outside it.

The longest totality, lasting 2 minutes and 18 seconds, was just off the west coast of Iceland.

A rare sight

It was the first total eclipse visible in Iceland since 1954, and the only one this century. It was the first total eclipse on the Spanish mainland since 1905. Another will cross Spain next year, on 2 August 2027.

The last total eclipse visible in Europe was in March 2015, over the Faroe Islands and Svalbard. The last over mainland Europe was in August 1999, when totality crossed Cornwall.

In Britain

Across Britain, people gathered to watch the partial eclipse, with schools, astronomy societies and observatories holding events. The sky darkened noticeably at the peak.

Experts warned people never to look directly at the Sun, even during a partial eclipse, and to use special eclipse glasses or indirect methods such as pinhole projectors.

Eclipse tourism

Large numbers of people travelled to Spain and Iceland to see the total eclipse, many of them from Britain.

What happens in an eclipse?

A total solar eclipse happens when the Moon passes directly between the Earth and the Sun, blocking its light. During totality, the Sun's outer atmosphere, the corona, becomes visible as a glowing halo, and bright stars and planets can be seen.

Scientists use eclipses to study the corona and the Sun's magnetic field.

The next one

Britain's next total solar eclipse will not come until September 2090.