List of solar eclipses visible from the British Isles

This is a list of solar eclipses visible from the United Kingdom between AD 1000 – AD 2091.

A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby totally or partially obscuring Earth's view of the Sun. Below is a complete list of total and annular eclipses visible anywhere within the modern extent of the United Kingdom between AD 1000 and AD 2090 and a description of forthcoming partial solar eclipses visible in Britain in the next fifteen years or so.

The twelfth century (AD 1101 - 1200)

• 2 August 1133
  • "King Henry's Eclipse": A total eclipse, recorded in the Peterborough Chronicle (under 1135 due to the vagaries of the dating system in use): and the next day, as he lay asleep on ship, the day darkened over all lands, and the Sun was all **
• 20 March 1140
  • A total eclipse, recorded by William of Malmesbury in his Historia Novella. In his opinion this was a sign which foretold the capture of King Stephen in the Battle of Lincoln in 1141. This is the Lenten eclipse also reported in the Peterborough Chronicle as being on the thirteenth day before the kalends of April: 'After this, during Lent, the sun and the day darkened about the noon-tide of the day, when men were eating; and they lighted candles to eat by. That was the thirteenth day before the kalends of April. Men were greatly wonderstricken

 Totality was experienced at about 3.00 pm at the centre line of the eclipse (near Derby).

The fifteenth to sixteenth centuries (AD 1401 - 1600)

• 26 June 1424
  • A total eclipse of almost 2 and a half minutes duration in the extreme north of Scotland, Orkney and Shetland.
• 17 June 1433
  • Another Scottish total eclipse from the Hebrides in the north-west to the English borders in the east and then a strip of the Yorkshire coast.
• February 25, 1598 (March 7, 1598 by Gregorian calendar)
  • A total eclipse with a diagonal track from Cornwall in the south-west to Aberdeen in the north-east of Scotland.

The 17th to 19th centuries (AD 1601 - 1900)

• 8 April 1652
  • Another total solar eclipse with a diagonal track, this time across Pembrokeshire, the Lake District and then Scotland from the south-west to the north-east, including most of the major cities.

3 May 1715 Cambridge, England

• 12 August 1654
  • Yet another total eclipse for Scotland, this time a track across the north of Scotland near Aberdeen.
• 23 September 1699
  • A narrow path of totality just clipped the north-east corner of Scotland, including Wick.
• 3 May 1715
  • A marvellous British Total Solar Eclipse from Cornwall in the south-west to Lincolnshire and Norfolk in the east. Edmund Halley, (later the second man to be appointed Astronomer Royal), observed the eclipse from London. The city of London enjoyed 3 minutes 33 seconds of totality.
• 22 May 1724
  • A fine Total Solar Eclipse with a north-west to south-east track, from southern Wales and Devon in the west, eastwards to Hampshire and Sussex, but passing to the south of London.
• There was no Total Solar Eclipse visible from the United Kingdom between 1724 and 1925.

The twentieth century (AD 1901 - 2000)

• 24 January 1925
  • Total Solar Eclipse: A short duration total eclipse at sunset in British waters to the north of the Hebrides, but nowhere touching land.
• 29 June 1927
  • Total Solar Eclipse: A mere 24 seconds of totality in the early morning, along a narrow track from North Wales, through Lancashire to the English north-east coast, but weather was very poor with cloud and high winds. However the Astronomer Royal's expedition to Giggleswick in North Yorkshire was amongst the few to catch sight of totality.
• 30 June 1954
  • Total Solar Eclipse at Unst in the Shetland Islands, although the centre line was north of British territorial waters. A large partial eclipse was widely observed over the whole of the UK.
• 2 October 1959
  • A partial eclipse visible over the whole of the United Kingdom ranging from approximately 20% in Northern Scotland to approximately 40% in South West Cornwall.
• 15 February 1961
  • The United Kingdom was greeted at dawn with a large portion of the Sun covered with maximum eclipse being approximately on the horizon ranging from 85% in Northern Scotland to between 92% and 95% in Southern England.

Partial solar eclipses also occurred on 20 May 1966, 22 September 1968, 25 February 1971, 10 July 1972, 30 June 1973, 11 May 1975, 29 April 1976, 20 July 1982, 15 December 1982, 4 December 1984, 21 May 1993 and 10 May 1994. (Source: HMNAO Eclipses On-line Portal.)

• 12 October 1996
  • A partial solar eclipse which covered 60% of the Sun over the British Isles.
• 11 August 1999
  • Total Solar Eclipse over Cornwall and part of south Devon, partial over the rest of the United Kingdom. Totality was observable from English Channel and the island of Alderney in the Channel Islands, but was almost universally clouded out on the British mainland. The clouds did clear in the Newquay area though allowing observation of full totality. A large partial eclipse was viewable in the southeast of England and south Wales, however. Observers in Cardiff noted birds falling silent, daylight colours turning shades of grey, and temperatures falling, augmented by a passing wisp of cloud at the moment of peak eclipse.

The twenty-first century (AD 2001 - 2091)

• 31 May 2003
  • An annular solar eclipse at sunrise was visible in the far north-west of Scotland.
• 29 March 2006
  • A partial solar eclipse was visible across the UK. South-eastern England saw the greatest magnitude at around 25%, northern Scotland the least at around 15%. The eclipse was total in Libya and Turkey.
• 1 August 2008
  • A small partial eclipse over the whole of the UK as a total eclipse crosses central Russia east of the Urals. 40% in the north of Scotland falling to less than 20% in the south-west of England.
• 4 January 2011
  • A partial eclipse, which was nowhere total, could be seen at sunrise in south-east England, where with a favourable south-eastern horizon a Sun 75% covered by the Moon was seen.
• 20 March 2015
  • An eclipse which is total across the north Atlantic including the Faroe Islands will result in a large partial eclipse across the UK, greater than 80% everywhere. While the line of totality will nowhere touch land in the United Kingdom, it will pass less than ten kilometres to the north-west of the island of Rockall.
• 11 August 2018
  • A very small partial eclipse on the northern coast of Scotland, Orkney and Shetland.
• 10 June 2021
  • An eclipse which is annular across Canada and the Arctic gives rise to partial eclipse across Britain ranging from 50% in northern Scotland to 30% in south-east England.
• 25 October 2022
  • An eclipse which is nowhere total results in a partial eclipse across Britain with north-east Scotland the most favoured, at around 35% falling to less than 20% in Cornwall.
• 12 August 2026
  • An eclipse which is total across Iceland, the Atlantic Ocean and Spain results in a very large partial eclipse across Britain with western Ireland the most favoured, at around 95% falling to 83% in London
• 23 September 2090
  • Total Solar Eclipse: the next total eclipse visible in the UK follows a track similar to that of 11 August 1999, but shifted slightly further north and occurring very near sunset. Maximum duration in Cornwall will be 2 minutes and 10 seconds. Same day and month as the eclipse of 23 September 1699.
• 18 February 2091
  • A Partial Solar eclipse viewable from most areas of England (mostly Northern England). It will be visible from 08:25am to 10:55am, and at its peak at around 09:30am. Maximum duration is approximately 2 minutes and 30 seconds

External links

• The NASA solar eclipse calculator for Europe