Solar Eclipse August 12 2026 - France, Spain, Europe

Wednesday, August 12, 2026. It is a total solar eclipse, the first to cross mainland Europe in over a century of Spanish observing history. The single most important detail, and the one most people get wrong, is the time of day: this is an evening eclipse in Europe, not a midday one. Sources: NASA, IGN.

Local evening. Across Spain the partial phase begins around 19:30 CEST and maximum falls around 20:30 CEST, shortly before sunset. In France, maximum is around 20:15-20:20 CEST (Paris peaks at 20:17). In Germany the partial phase starts roughly 19:10-19:25 and peaks between 20:05 and 20:15 (Berlin 20:08, Munich 20:15), ending near 21:00. The Sun will be very low on the west-northwest horizon throughout. Sources: IGN Spain, eclipse-solaire.fr, German observatories.

The Moon's shadow touches remote northeastern Siberia, then eastern Greenland, the west coast of Iceland, and finally northern Spain and a small strip of northwestern Portugal. Northern Spain is by far the most accessible stretch of the path, and there the band is unusually wide, roughly 290 km across. Sources: NASA, IGN.

The band crosses the Iberian Peninsula from northwest to southeast and takes in a long list of provincial capitals, including A Coruña, Lugo, Oviedo, León, Zamora, Palencia, Valladolid, Burgos, Santander, Bilbao, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Logroño, Soria, Segovia, Guadalajara, Zaragoza, Cuenca, Teruel, Lleida, Tarragona, Castelló, València and Palma de Mallorca. Oviedo has the longest totality of any Spanish capital at about 1 minute 48 seconds. Source: IGN Spain.

Short. The global maximum is 2 minutes and 18 seconds, and most places in the path see well under two minutes. In Spain, Oviedo gets roughly 1m48s, Burgos about 104 seconds. Because the Sun is only a few degrees above the horizon in Spain, a clear, unobstructed western view matters as much as being inside the band. Sources: NASA, IGN.

Partial, but extremely deep. The path of totality passes south of the border, through northern Spain. Southwest France comes closest: Biarritz reaches about 99.5%, Bayonne roughly 99%, Bordeaux and Toulouse around 97%, Paris 92.1%, Lyon about 90%, Marseille around 88%, Strasbourg around 86%. A 99% partial eclipse looks dramatic, but it is not totality, the corona does not appear and glasses must stay on the whole time. Sources: eclipse-solaire.fr, timeanddate.com.

A deep partial eclipse of roughly 85% to 90% depending on location, with the southwest favoured. Berlin sees about 84.9% at maximum (19:15 start, 20:08 maximum, 20:58 end), Munich about 88.8% (19:23, 20:15, 21:06), and Freiburg around 90%. The whole event happens with the Sun low in the evening sky. Sources: German observatories, BfS.

Only with proper protection. Looking at a partially eclipsed Sun without a certified filter causes permanent retinal damage, and there is no pain to warn you. Use ISO 12312-2 certified eclipse glasses or a proper solar filter. Sunglasses, exposed film, smoked glass and phone screens are not safe. The naked eye is safe only during the seconds of totality itself, and only if you are inside the path of totality, which in Europe means northern Spain. Everywhere else, glasses stay on for the entire event. Sources: NASA, ESA, BfS.

You can, but point a solar filter at the lens, not just at your eyes. A phone sensor pointed at an unfiltered low Sun for a long exposure can be damaged, and the result is usually a small white blob anyway. What actually photographs well is the scene: the darkened landscape, the strange evening light, the reactions around you. In Spain, where the eclipsed Sun sits low over the horizon, wide shots including the skyline are far more interesting than a zoomed disc. Sources: NASA, ESA.

Because the Moon's shadow arrives from the north, sweeping down over the Arctic and the North Atlantic before reaching Iberia at the very end of its track. By the time it crosses Spain the Sun is only a few degrees above the horizon, and in the far southeast of the path the Sun sets while still eclipsed. That geometry is what makes this eclipse visually unusual: totality at sunset, with the corona hanging just above the skyline. Sources: NASA, IGN.

Yes, and that is not a coincidence. A total solar eclipse can only happen at new moon, and the new moon of August 12, 2026 falls on the same day the Perseid meteor shower peaks. The result is an eclipse in the evening and then a completely moonless sky for the meteors overnight into August 13, one of the best Perseid set-ups in years. Sources: NASA, EarthSky, American Meteor Society.

August 30, 1905. Mainland Spain has waited more than 120 years for a repeat, which explains the scale of the preparations there. Spain is then unusually lucky: another total solar eclipse crosses the country on August 2, 2027, and an annular eclipse follows on January 26, 2028. Sources: IGN Spain, NASA.

August 11, 1999, whose path of totality crossed northern France including parts of Normandy. The 2026 eclipse does not bring totality back to France, the closest French observers get is about 99.5% at Biarritz, so anyone determined to see the corona needs to cross into northern Spain. Sources: NASA, timeanddate.com.

Less dramatic than the number suggests, and then suddenly very strange. Up to about 95% the change is mostly a dimming, an odd metallic quality to the light and a noticeable temperature drop. Above 99%, in the far southwest of France, the light collapses, shadows sharpen oddly and birds behave as if night has fallen. Even so, the qualitative jump to totality only happens at 100%, which is why the drive across the border matters to eclipse chasers. Sources: NASA, ESA.