Yorkshire to see rare evening solar eclipse, with 95% of Sun covered

Yorkshire will have a rare evening view of a solar eclipse on 12 August, when the Moon is expected to cover up to 95% of the Sun between 18:00 and 20:15 BST. The safest way to watch is with certified eclipse glasses or another approved solar-viewing method, not ordinary sunglasses, smoked glass or improvised filters.

The event stands out because it will be one of the deepest solar eclipses visible from the UK in nearly three decades. The Royal Astronomical Society says it will be the best solar eclipse visible from the UK since 1999, while the Royal Observatory Greenwich puts the coverage for viewers in the UK and Ireland at around 90% to 96%. BBC News has said this is the first time such deep coverage has been seen since the total eclipse of 1999, and the next total eclipse visible from the UK will not come until 23 September 2090.

The eclipse will not arrive as a sudden blackout. BBC regional coverage said the change in light will build gradually as the Moon moves across the Sun, with the landscape taking on a dim, eerie quality rather than plunging into darkness. That slow shift is part of what makes a deep partial eclipse so striking: it turns a familiar afternoon into a long, visibly changing sky event that many people can follow minute by minute.

Location will matter. Yorkshire is expected to offer one of the better UK views, but the exact depth of the eclipse will vary across the region, with South Yorkshire coverage put at around 92% in regional reporting. Weather will matter too, because even a near-total-looking eclipse can be hidden by cloud. The UK Health Security Agency published safety advice on 23 July 2026, warning the public not to look directly at the Sun and to use proper viewing equipment rather than makeshift solutions.

That mix of precision and spectacle is why eclipses keep drawing families, amateur astronomers and first-time observers into the same field of view. For Yorkshire, the 12 August eclipse offers a rare chance to see astronomy become a shared public event in the evening sky, with the Sun’s bright arc reduced to a narrow remnant before the Moon moves on.