A total solar eclipse is set to occur on Wednesday, with the moon's shadow crossing parts of Siberia, the Arctic Ocean, Greenland, Iceland, a stretch of the northern Atlantic, and northern Spain before ending in the Mediterranean. Other parts of Europe will experience a partial eclipse. The total darkness is expected to last only a couple of minutes at any given location along the path.
Eclipse observers travel across Europe and to Iceland ahead of Wednesday's total solar eclipse
A total solar eclipse is set to occur on Wednesday, with the moon's shadow crossing parts of Siberia, the Arctic Ocean, Greenland, Iceland, a stretch of the northern Atlantic, and northern Spain before ending in the Mediterranean. Other parts of Europe will experience a partial eclipse. The total darkness is expected to last only a couple of minutes at any given location along the path.
Mark Griffiths, based in Cheshire, drove for two days to Galicia, Spain — described as one of the better viewing locations — bringing two cameras, a specialist telescope and a drone. He stopped in Bordeaux to rest and photograph the night sky. Griffiths said he began pursuing sky-watching events six years ago when he travelled to Shetland to observe the northern lights, though poor weather prevented any sighting. He has since photographed auroras, eclipses and bioluminescence, and leads tour groups to Iceland monthly. Wednesday's event will be his first total solar eclipse. He described mainland Europe's first total solar eclipse in more than 25 years as comparable to the football World Cup for enthusiasts.
Samantha and Gregory Phillips-Brown flew from upstate New York to Iceland and hired a camper van to drive to a remote viewing location. They previously witnessed a solar eclipse near their home in upstate New York in 2023, which prompted them to book flights and a van for this event more than a year in advance. They plan to position themselves in the Westfjords peninsula, which lies in the path of totality across western Iceland. There are reportedly rumours of road closures in that area to manage visitor numbers. Samantha Phillips-Brown is monitoring Facebook groups and social media pages used by eclipse observers to exchange information.
Andrew Wills is travelling to Majorca with his wife and his 90-year-old father to observe the eclipse. He and his father previously watched mainland Europe's last total solar eclipse together in 1999 from St Agnes Beacon in Cornwall, where cloud cover limited their view. He has booked a villa near the town of Andraitx in the west of Majorca and has identified a nearby spot with a view across the sea. Because of the location's position in the path of totality, the eclipse is expected to appear low on the horizon. Majorca and Menorca will be among the last land locations from which the eclipse will be visible before sunset.
- The precise local times at which the eclipse will begin and end at each location are not stated
- The exact duration of totality at specific viewing locations is not provided beyond 'a couple of minutes'
- The source does not confirm whether road closures in Iceland's Westfjords have been officially announced or are only rumoured
- The total number of people travelling to view the eclipse is not given
- Weather forecasts for the viewing locations on the day of the eclipse are not included
- The source does not state how many total solar eclipses Griffiths has previously photographed