A Total Solar Eclipse Crosses Mainland Europe for the First Time Since 1999

On Wednesday, 12 August 2026, a total solar eclipse crossed the Northern Hemisphere, marking the first time since 11 August 1999 that the Moon's central shadow touched mainland Europe. Occurring at the descending node of the lunar orbit just 2.3 days after perigee, the Moon presented a larger apparent diameter that completely obscured the Sun along a focused terrestrial track. While partial phases covered vast regions of Europe, North Africa, and northern North America, the path of totality traced an unusual arc across remote polar reaches before sweeping south across the Iberian Peninsula.

The trajectory of totality began in far northern Siberia and arced across the Arctic, passing near the North Pole before heading across Greenland and Iceland. The point of greatest eclipse occurred in the North Atlantic approximately 45 kilometres off Iceland's western coast, generating a maximum totality duration of 2 minutes and 18.2 seconds. On land, the longest viewing window unfolded at Látrabjarg in Iceland's Westfjords, where local authorities confronted infrastructure challenges on narrow roads to accommodate arriving observers.