![\"Color](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/shutterstock_2452016475-1024x683.jpg\")
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\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCredit: Cole Dynes, Shutterstock<\/p>\n
The greatest solar eclipse the UK has seen since 1999 is coming this August. While not a total solar eclipse, people will see around 90% of the Sun covered by the Moon across the British Isles\u2014and to top it all off, it\u2019s happening the very same day as the Perseid meteor shower<\/a> peaks.<\/p>\n What is a solar eclipse?<\/p>\n Simply put, a solar eclipse is when the Earth, Moon and Sun line up, with the Moon passing in front of and blocking the Sun\u2019s light. A total eclipse is when the Sun is fully covered by the Moon, while a partial eclipse is when only a part of the Sun is covered.\u00a0<\/p>\n In parts of Greenland, Iceland and Northern Spain, they will experience a total eclipse, while we must make do with a partial eclipse\u2014at 90% coverage, and in some places even higher, it\u2019s still the best the UK has seen in almost 27 years.<\/p>\n When is the partial solar eclipse?<\/p>\n The partial solar eclipse will take place on Wednesday, August 12, 2026, in the UK. In London, the Moon will begin covering the Sun from 6:17 pm, reaching its peak coverage at 7:12 pm, before ending its eclipse at 8:06 pm.\u00a0<\/p>\n Can I look directly at the Sun?<\/p>\n Look, I know you\u2019re going to do it anyway, but I cannot in good conscience advise you to stare at the solar eclipse (Google: \u201csolar retinopathy\u201d). In 1999, around 70 people experienced vision problems after watching the eclipse (40% looked at it for less than a minute). Instead, there are a variety of ways to see it that won\u2019t damage your eyes:<\/p>\n Use special eclipse glasses that block out the Sun\u2019s rays (make sure they meet the international safety standard ISO 12312-2:2015(E), as ordinary sunglasses won\u2019t cut it)<\/p>\n Make a \u2018pinhole viewer\u2019 or \u2018pinhole projector\u2019 with an old cereal box to watch indirectly (alternatively use the holes of a colander or the leaves of a tree)<\/p>\n Watch it via the Royal Observatory\u2019s live stream, with coverage live<\/a> on YouTube and Facebook from 6:10 pm<\/p>\n What about the Perseid meteor shower?<\/p>\n Kept your vision? Good. The Perseids will peak that very night with up to 150 meteors per hour. The best time to spot the meteors is from around midnight to 5:30 am. For more tips and information on this incredible stargazing phenomenon, learn more about the Perseid meteor shower here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Credit: Cole Dynes, Shutterstock The greatest solar eclipse the UK has seen since 1999 is coming this August.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":710056,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[59,90,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-710055","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-science","tag-gb","tag-science","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/710055","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=710055"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/710055\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/710056"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=710055"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=710055"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=710055"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Atlanta,](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/shutterstock_2448108319-1024x683.jpg\")
Credit: BluIz70, Shutterstock<\/p>\n![\"Meteor](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1784958497_83_shutterstock_2406122207-1024x681.jpg\")
Credit: Craig Taylor Photography, via Shutterstock<\/p>\n