Europe solar eclipse: millions watch rare spectacle across Spain, UK and Iceland – as it happened

By Newsdesk

August 12, 2026·6 min read·Updated 23 hours ago

Jakub Krupa — Total solar eclipse darkens sky in Spain – videoThe Guardian

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Jakub Krupa

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Thank you for following today’s special solar eclipse with us on Europe Live.

But, but, but… before you go, make sure to save the date: the next total eclipse seen from the UK, France and mainland Europe will be in September 2081.

See you then, right?

Total solar eclipse darkens sky in Spain – video

Solar eclipse visible over Houses of Parliament and Big Ben in London – video

For a selection of the best photos from today’s eclipse, you can browse this gallery by our picture desk:

Iceland in complete darkness during total solar eclipse - video

Ashifa Kassam

in Madrid

“It was one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen in my life,”Sara García Alonso, a reserve astronaut for the European Space Agency, told broadcaster RTVE. “It gave me goose bumps.”

Thousands of people gather to observe a total solar eclipse over the Madrid town of Buitrago del Lozoya, Spain. Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images

Standing next to her, the astronaut Pablo Álvarez Fernández nodded in agreement:

“It had been described to me so many times, but it was much more beautiful than what I had expected.”

Cornwall comes together for communal moment during solar eclipse

Steven Morris

in Cornwall

Strangers shared picnics, drinks and eclipse glasses, which had been very tricky to source in Cornwall.

The wind picked up as the eclipse took hold and the temperature, which had reached the 30s during the day, plunged.

Gulls stopped circling and landed on the surface of the water. A trio of choughs – Cornwall’s national bird – hopped around on the hillside, looking a little less graceful than usual. The swallows that had been whizzing around the thatched cottages rested for a while.

Mary Bendall had positioned herself on a rock near the coastguard station with a complicated setup involving a filter over a scope that she uses to watch wildlife and her iPhone.

She watched the total eclipse in 1999 with her daughter, who now works in physics, having been inspired by the experience.

“I have just spoken to her – she’s in Spain. It’s cloudy there so we may be having the best of it,” Bendall said.

Mother and daughter Lisa and Janet Grenfell, 53 and 79, plonked their camp chairs on the front and took it all in. “We remember the total eclipse in 1999 but it was cloudy. This is beautiful.”

Jasmine Owen and Rory Smith arguably had the best seat in the house – a table overlooking the ocean where they tucked into fish and chips.

What was better? The supper or the eclipse? Owen did not hesitate:

“The chips are great, the eclipse amazing.”

Chris Michael in Camberwell, south London

It’s not often I have been able to share my telescope obsession with strangers – or indeed any other people at all, other than my long-suffering partner.

It can be a bit of a weird and inward hobby, involving a lot of fiddling around with eyepieces in the dead of night while covered in dew – and of course it’s basically pointless in London, where the light pollution makes amateur astronomy a bit like the equivalent of going for a swim in a car park.

So seeing an impromptu crowd of all ages gather in Brunswick Park, south London, asking to take a look through the scope at the eclipse, which reached 92% totality here, was a wonderful experience.

People gather in Brunswick Park, Camberwell, south London to watch the partial solar eclipse Photograph: Chris Michael/The Guardian

We met dozens of new neighbours, of all ages – not least Ludmila, a Ukrainian woman in her 70s, who was the first person standing in the park when we arrived and revealed she’d worked at an observatory in Crimea for 30 years. “What a surprise to find an actual refractor,” she said of the telescope. “It’s like a wonderful gift.”

View of the sun as seen through a telescope during the partial solar eclipse in London Photograph: Chris Michael/The Guardian

The real highlight, however, was all of the creative ways people experimented with seeing the eclipse. Some held up colanders, another a spatula with holes, another a makeshift pinhole camera made of old candy boxes. One guy used a volcanic rock with a little hole in it.

People watch the solar eclipse through a colander in a south London park Photograph: Dan Rose

Later, as the eclipse passed its zenith and the sun began to set for real, we stayed up to drink beer on picnic blankets and swap photos – strangers no longer.

Solar eclipse as watched across England - in pictures

People gather to view the partial solar eclipse in Greenwich Park in London, United Kingdom. Photograph: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images

People observe a partial solar eclipse on Crosby beach near Liverpool as the moon covers part of the sun in Liverpool, England. Photograph: Jon Super/AP

Arsenal fans watch the solar eclipse ahead of the pre-season friendly match between Arsenal and Como at Emirates Stadium in London. Photograph: Charlotte Wilson/Offside/Getty Images

A woman holds a piece of paper showing the eclipse refracted from binoculars on Primrose Hill in London. Photograph: Henry Nicholls/AFP/Getty Images

People view the partial solar eclipse at Parliament Hill in London, England. Photograph: Brook Mitchell/Getty Images

Members of the public watch the solar eclipse during the European Athletics Championships at Alexander Stadium in Birmingham. Photograph: Ben Stansall/AFP/Getty Images

Solar eclipse across Europe - in pictures

The moon completely covers the sun during a total solar eclipse as seen from the Javalambre Astrophysical Observatory in in Arcos de las Salinas, near Teruel, Spain. Photograph: Christian Hartmann/Reuters

A solar eclipse is seen over a Virgin Maria church in Vidigulfo, near Pavia, northern Italy. Photograph: Antonio Calanni/AP

People gather at the Dinnyés Observation Tower to watch the partial solar eclipse close to Agard, Hungary. Photograph: Attila Kisbenedek/AFP/Getty Images

Beachgoers watch a solar eclipse as the moon partially covers the sun and briefly dims the afternoon light along the coast of Fregene, near Rome, Italy. Photograph: Guglielmo Mangiapane/Reuters

Grooms Jerry Bone, 30, and Jamie Bone, 25, take a moment during their wedding day to watch the solar eclipse in Alpheton, Suffolk. Photograph: Jordan Pettitt/PA

Reporting from The Guardian contributed to this story.

Europe solar eclipse: millions watch rare spectacle across Spain, UK and Iceland – as it happened

This blog is now closed

Total solar eclipse darkens sky in Spain – video

Solar eclipse visible over Houses of Parliament and Big Ben in London – video

Iceland in complete darkness during total solar eclipse - video

Cornwall comes together for communal moment during solar eclipse

Solar eclipse as watched across England - in pictures

Solar eclipse across Europe - in pictures

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