Where in the UK can you see the Monday 8 April solar eclipse?

A complete solar eclipse is about to span North America on Monday – from Mexico to the very jap tip of Canada.

The astronomical phenomenon can be much less dramatic in the UK, however a partial eclipse may very well be seen in some elements of the nation.

A solar eclipse happens when the Moon strikes between the Earth and the Sun, blocking some or all of the Sun’s rays from reaching the Earth.

The phenomenon is a cosmic occasion, requiring the Sun, the Moon and the Earth to be in simply the proper alignment for the Moon to solid a shadow on our planet.

When this occurs, the Moon casts two sorts of shadows.

One outcomes in a partial solar eclipse, which covers solely a part of the Sun.

The different – and the extra spectacular – is known as a complete solar eclipse, in which the Sun’s disc is solely coated by the Moon, save for a fragile halo of scattered gentle coming from our star’s outer ambiance.

A complete solar eclipse happens someplace on Earth roughly each 18 months or so. The continental US was additionally fortunate sufficient to see one in 2017, however its subsequent vital alternative will not come till 2045.

The Moon’s full shadow ends its journey throughout the Earth in the Atlantic Ocean about 620 miles (1,000km) from Cornwall.

But it ought to nonetheless be potential to catch a partial eclipse from western elements of the UK, proper earlier than sundown.

Very merely, if you draw a line from about Fowey in Cornwall to Berwick upon Tweed in Northumberland, then every part west of that line would possibly simply get a view of the Moon biting the fringe of the Sun because it disappears over the horizon.

You’ll should be on excessive floor and have clear sky.

“With the partial solar eclipse occurring late in the day UK time, the Sun will be low to the horizon and will actually set before the spectacle is over,” BBC Weather presenter Simon King stated.

The previous recommendation of by no means trying straight at the Sun nonetheless applies – you mustn’t stare at the eclipse straight.

Experts suggest utilizing solar eclipse glasses, which have a particular filter that blocks damaging UV rays. These glasses are completely different from sun shades, as they block all gentle solely besides that coming from the Sun.

If you can’t get glasses, attempt piercing a gap utilizing a pin into one piece of paper. With your again to the Sun, maintain that paper above your shoulder so the solar’s rays can shine by that small little gap.

At the identical time, maintain up the one other piece of paper in entrance of you.

It will act like a display screen, on to which the Sun’s rays can be projected.

In Northern Ireland and western Scotland, the place the Moon will eclipse round 20% of the Sun, the climate doesn’t look supreme.

Monday will see cloudy skies for many with spells of rain in south-west Scotland and Northern Ireland, in keeping with BBC Weather.

In Wales and west England there’ll solely be a small slither – 2% to 10% of an eclipse – and the climate can be trying cloudy with rain.

Audience members exterior North America who need to see the complete eclipse can catch our reside protection on the BBC web site. There can be a livestream to observe the occasion because it occurs and common textual content and video updates on a reside web page.

Coverage will start at 14:00 BST and proceed all through the day, full with reside dispatches from our reporters who can be stationed at eclipse gatherings throughout the US and Canada.

People dwelling in sure North American cities fall on the path of totality, which maps precisely the place the complete eclipse can be seen.

It spans places from Mexico all the method to Newfoundland in the easternmost tip of Canada.

Big cities that ought to see the complete eclipse embody Dallas, Indianapolis, Cleveland and Buffalo, whereas Niagara Falls is predicted to supply a spectacular view of the occasion.

For Canadians, the path of totality contains Hamilton, Montreal and Gander.

The UK’s final complete solar eclipse occurred in 1999.

Thousands of individuals flocked to Cornwall, which was the solely place in the UK to witness the occasion in its totality.

The subsequent partial solar eclipse which can be seen from the UK is predicted on 29 March 2025, when 30 to 40% of the Sun’s rays are anticipated to be blocked.

But the subsequent full solar eclipse in the UK is not anticipated till 23 September 2090, in keeping with the Royal Observatory in Greenwich.