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Stunning eclipse turns daylight into darkness across Europe
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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.
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.
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.
Prague Castle silhouetted during the partial eclipse in the Czech Republic
The Eiffel Tower in Paris
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 watched the event at the Olympic Park in Munich, Germany
Spectators at the Abbadia Castle Observatory in the south of France
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 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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