Sunny skies forecast in Shropshire for solar eclipse
Shropshire is to enjoy one of the best views of the partial solar eclipse today as cloudy skies are forecast across the rest of the UK.
Shropshire is to enjoy one of the best views of the partial solar eclipse today as cloudy skies are forecast across the rest of the UK.
Mid Wales and the Midlands are one of the few places where weather forecasters predict skies will be mostly clear of cloud.
The partial solar eclipse will cast a shadow over the county for the first time this century, with just over 90 per cent darkness when the moon passes between the sun and the Earth and casts a shadow over the Earth's surface.
Partial solar eclipses happen when the Moon comes between the Sun and the Earth, but they don't align in a perfectly straight line. Because of this, the Moon only partially covers the Sun's disc.
In a partial solar eclipse, the Sun looks like the Moon has taken a bite out of it. This is because the Moon casts the lighter, outer part of its shadow, the penumbra, on Earth.
From 8.25am astronomers will be safely watching the event. The partial eclipse of the sun will peak at around 9.31am. At this time 90% of the sun will be obscured in Shropshire.
The total eclipse will be taking place over the North Atlantic - starting from a spot 400 miles south of Greenland. It will skirt the south of Iceland, pass over the Faroe Islands and the Norwegian territory of Svalbard, and finish over the North Pole.
Unlike 1999, Britain will not be plunged into total darkness, but the effect is still expected to be incredible.
Don't look directly at the sun
Whilst a solar eclipse is an amazing and infrequent event, we are being reminded not to look directly at the sun or at a solar eclipse either with the naked eye, even if dark filters such as sunglasses or photographic negatives are used, nor through optical equipment such as cameras, binoculars or telescopes. There is no safe system to directly view an eclipse. Viewing the sun in such ways may lead to retinal burns which can cause significant and sometimes permanent loss of sight.
The Royal Astronomical Society has produced a guide on how to safely view an eclipse.
The next eclipse will not happen until 12 August 2026.
