A total solar eclipse will cross Greenland, Iceland and Spain on Wednesday, August 12 2026, marking mainland Europe's first total eclipse since 1999. The Moon's shadow begins racing across the Arctic at 15:34 GMT, blocking out the Sun for up to two minutes and 18 seconds at the point of greatest duration.
According to NASA, around 15 million people, most of them in Spain, live within the narrow path of totality. NASA's eclipse tracking pages confirm the path runs from far northern Siberia, near the North Pole, through the Arctic and North Atlantic oceans, over Iceland and Spain, with a small corner of Portugal also inside the path of totality.
In northern and eastern Spain, cities including Leon, Valladolid, Zaragoza, Teruel and Valencia sit inside the path of totality, with totality beginning at roughly 18:27 GMT (8:27pm local time) in western Spain. Madrid and Barcelona lie just outside the band but will still see more than 99 percent of the Sun covered.
A partial eclipse will be visible far more widely, stretching across Western Europe, parts of North Africa and even a sliver of the United States. Paris will see about 92 percent coverage, London 91 percent and Berlin 85 percent, though for many eastern European and North African cities the Sun will set before the eclipse reaches its deepest point.
Across the Atlantic, the eclipse falls during morning and afternoon hours. Canada's St John's will see roughly 53 percent coverage, dropping to 18 percent in Montreal and just 8 percent in Toronto.In the US, Alaska gets the deepest bite at about 37 percent, while the eclipse will be partial from Alaska to North Carolina, tapering to almost nothing across the Midwest.
Altogether, close to one billion people, roughly one in eight of the world's population, will be able to see at least a partial eclipse.
NASA is running live coverage of the event, including telescope views and footage from a WB-57 high-altitude research aircraft chasing the Moon's shadow.The agency also stresses that safety matters throughout: observers should use certified eclipse glasses or a safe solar viewer whenever any part of the Sun is visible, as ordinary sunglasses are not safe, and binoculars, telescopes or cameras must never be used without a proper solar filter. Only within the path of totality, and only during totality itself, is it safe to view the Sun without protection.
Those who miss out on totality this time will not have to wait too long for another chance in Europe's wider neighbourhood. The next total solar eclipse falls on August 2, 2027, crossing southern Spain, North Africa and Yemen.
