Stunning eclipse turns daylight into darkness across Europe

By the Visual Journalism team 13 August 2026 News

Millions of people witnessed the most significant eclipse in Europe for decades on Wednesday as the Sun disappeared behind the Moon for a few fleeting moments.

Onlookers in the much of the UK saw the Moon cover more than 90% of the Sun - the most since 1999 - while parts of Greenland, Iceland and Spain saw a rare total eclipse.

The grooms at a wedding embrace as they watch the solar eclipse at Alpheton in Suffolk

As the light faded, crowds of people across the continent stopped what they doing to look to the sky and watch the spectacle unfold. Some cheered as the last of the Sun’s rays disappeared, others stared in silence.

Those in the path of totality - the areas where the Moon fully blocked the Sun - experienced darkness for less than two minutes before the light began to return.

Three women and two men look to the sky while wearing eclipse glasses and smiling as the eclipse unfolds in Paredes de Coura, Viana do Castelo, Portugal
An older man uses eclipse glasses to look at the partial solar eclipse at Abbadia, le Château Observatoire in Hendaye, southwestern France
A partial solar eclipse against a black sky, with the Moon covering much of the Sun and leaving a bright crescent of sunlight visible.
A total solar eclipse showing the Sun’s glowing corona around the Moon’s dark silhouette, with a bright flare of light on the left edge creating the diamond ring effect.
A total solar eclipse with the Moon completely covering the Sun, surrounded by a soft golden-white corona extending into the dark sky.
A bright diamond ring effect appears as sunlight breaks through at the edge of the Moon during a total solar eclipse, illuminating the Sun’s corona.

The total eclipse began at the tip of Siberia in Russia, with the narrow path of totality curving around between Iceland and Greenland before heading across the Atlantic to northern Spain.

The last place on land to see the total eclipse was on the islands of Majorca and Menorca, before the shadow disappeared into the Mediterranean Sea as the Sun set.

The Prague Castle is silhouetted during a partial solar eclipse in Prague, Czech Republic
Prague Castle silhouetted during the partial eclipse in the Czech Republic
The Eiffel Tower is silhouetted as the moon partially covers the sun during a solar eclipse, as seen from Paris, France
The Eiffel Tower in Paris
A near total solar eclipse, with more than 90 percent of the Sun blocked by the Moon across Britain, is pictured behind Elizabeth Tower in central London
The Elizabeth Tower in London

Spain was one of the best places to see the total eclipse, with millions of tourists descending on the country in recent days to witness the event.

The last total eclipse in Spain happened more than a century ago, but the country is due to experience another one in August next year. Totality for that one is expected to last more than six minutes in some places, which has led to it being dubbed the "eclipse of the century".

Hundreds of people watch the solar eclipse at Olympic Park in Munich, Germany, with three people in the foreground watching on and smiling as the spectacle unfolds
Hundreds of people watched the event at the Olympic Park in Munich, Germany
People use solar eclipse viewing glasses to look at the partial solar eclipse at Abbadia, le Château Observatoire in Hendaye, southwestern France
Spectators at the Abbadia Castle Observatory in the south of France
A woman uses a colander to use as pinhole viewer to observe a partial solar eclipse at Kew Green in London
A woman using a colander to watch the eclipse in Kew Green in London

It will be a while before the UK experiences another eclipse like this one. A partial eclipse next year will see about 45% coverage in some regions but the next full solar eclipse in the UK is not until September 2090.

A bird flies in the foreground of an image capturing the partial eclipse from the Mariager Fjord in Denmark
An image capturing the partial eclipse in on top of the Great Feldberg mountain, northwest of Frankfurt, Germany showing the silhouettes of people in the foreground and the eclipse in the background
A composite image shows different stages of the solar eclipse as seen from Montesinho Natural Park, Rio de Onor, district of Braganca, Portugal
A composite image showing the different stages of the eclipse seen from northern Portugal

Image credits

Christian Hartmann/Reuters, Estela Silva/EPA/Shutterstock, Philippe Lopez/AFP, Patricia J. Garcinuño/Getty Images, Leon Neal/Getty Images, Agostime/Europa Press, Patricia J. Garcinuño/Getty Images, Toby Shepheard/AFP, Sarah Meyssonnier/Reuters, Martin Divíšek/EPA/Shutterstock, Fariha Farooqui/Reuters, Kevin Coombs/Reuters, Bo Amstrup/Ritzau Scanpix/AFP, Matías Basualdo/EPA/Shutterstock, Pedro Sarmento Costa/EPA/Shutterstock.

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