12/08/2026
On Wednesday 12 August, we’ll experience the most significant solar eclipse visible from Britain in a generation. Across the UK, the eclipse begins shortly after 6pm, with maximum coverage generally occurring just after 7pm. In London, for example, it begins at 6:17pm, peaks at 7:13pm and ends at 8:06pm.
Depending on where you are, more than 90% of the Sun will be obscured, rising to around 96% in the far south-west. The UK won’t experience totality, but this is the closest we’ll get for a very long time. The next total solar eclipse visible from the UK isn’t until 2090.
And considering we spend our working lives telling people to get noticed on social media, tomorrow we're suggesting something slightly different:
Put the phone down, Step away from the feed for a little while and actually watch it happen.
Britain has experienced other partial eclipses in recent years, including 29 March 2025, 25 October 2022 and the major eclipse of 20 March 2015, but the last time the path of totality actually crossed the UK was 11 August 1999.
Some moments deserve more than a Story.
(And please remember: never look directly at the Sun without proper eclipse viewing protection!)