How long will the solar eclipse last? UK schedule explained – and what time it’s closest to a total eclipse

BRITS will have almost two hours to watch the Moon take a huge bite out of the Sun when a solar eclipse sweeps across the UK on Wednesday. The sun-sational spectacle will be visible nationwide, but exactly when it starts, reaches its peak and ends depends on where you are watching from. The partial solar eclipse will be visible across the whole of the UK Credit: Gerry Penny This Met Office chart shows when and where the sun will be most obscured by the moon, and by how much While it will remain a partial eclipse everywhere in the UK, some areas will come tantalisingly close to totality. More than 96% of the Sun obscured in the far South West, while the whole country will enjoy at least 90% coverage. Sign up for the Tech newsletter Thank you! How long will the solar eclipse last in the UK? Royal Observatory Greenwich says the partial eclipse will last around one hour and 50 minutes when viewed from the UK and Ireland. Across the UK as a whole, the first signs begin at 5.59pm BST in far northern Scotland, while the final part of the eclipse ends at 8.10pm in the South West. read more on the solar eclipse Timings for major cities fall inside that window: Edinburgh – begins at about 6.08pm, peaks at 7.05pm, and ends at 8pm Manchester – starts at roughly 6.13pm, reaches maximum at 7.10pm, and finishes at 8.03pm Birmingham – runs from 6.15pm until 8.05pm, peaking at 7.11pm Cardiff – kicks off at approximately 6.16pm, reaches maximum at 7.13p and ends at 8.07pm London – commences from around 6.17pm until 8.06pm, with maximum coverage at about 7.13pm What time is the solar eclipse closest to totality? The best place in the UK to get as close as possible to a total eclipse is the Isles of Scilly. BBC Sky at Night Magazine calculates that Bishop Rock Lighthouse, in the Western Rocks, will see 96.5% of the Sun’s disc covered by area at maximum eclipse. Most read in Tech Land’s End will see 95.8%, while Lizard Point in Cornwall gets 95.6%. In the Isles of Scilly, the eclipse starts at around 6.19pm, reaches its maximum point at 7.16pm, and ends at 8.10pm. But even there the Sun will never disappear completely. The path of totality misses the British Isles and instead crosses parts of northern Russia, Greenland, Iceland, Spain, and a small area of Portugal. NASA says the longest period of totality anywhere along the path will be two minutes and 18 seconds. In the UK the Moon will cover between 90% and 96% of the Sun How to watch the solar eclipse safely The Sun will be low in the western sky as the eclipse unfolds, so viewers will need a clear, unobstructed view towards the horizon. It is never safe to look directly at the Sun during a partial eclipse. The UK Health Security Agency says ordinary sunglasses are not sufficient and viewers should use genuine eclipse glasses or handheld solar viewers that meet the ISO 12312-2:2015(E) safety standard. Anyone without suitable glasses can instead use an indirect viewing method such as a pinhole projector. Comment now