Total solar eclipse on August 12, 2026: Where will it be visible?
A rare celestial event will create different views depending on where you are in the world
Dubai: Millions of skywatchers across Europe and North America are preparing for one of the year's most significant astronomical events on Wednesday, August 12, 2026 - a rare total solar eclipse tracing a dramatic path over the North Atlantic.
The spectacle will not look the same for everyone. A narrow corridor of totality will sweep from northern Russia across Greenland, Iceland and the North Atlantic before clipping the northeastern tip of Portugal and reaching northern Spain. Beyond that path, much of Europe will witness a deep partial eclipse, while parts of North America will see a more modest partial event.
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Where will totality be visible?
Totality, the moment the Moon fully obscures the Sun's disc will trace a narrow band across:
Northern Russia, where totality falls around the middle of the day for a small, remote region
Greenland
Iceland
The North Atlantic
A small area of northeastern Portugal
Northern Spain
According to the European Space Agency (ESA), most observers within this path will experience totality for less than two minutes. Those closest to the very centre of the eclipse path in Greenland, Russia or over the North Atlantic itself will enjoy a slightly longer spectacle, though still under two and a half minutes.
Partial eclipse: Who else will see it?
Beyond the path of totality, skywatchers within the wider reach of the Moon's shadow will witness a partial eclipse, where the Sun is only partly obscured.
Timings will vary considerably by region. According to NASA, the partial eclipse will begin as the day starts in northern Russia. In Alaska and northern Canada, the event will both begin and end during the morning, whereas Canada's eastern provinces will see it unfold in the afternoon. Across the northern contiguous United States, the partial eclipse will start around midday and continue into the mid-afternoon further east. The eclipse will finally reach the UK, Ireland, mainland Europe and Africa during the evening.
The extent of coverage will also differ sharply by location. NASA notes that observers in the United States and southern Canada will see only a small "bite" taken from the solar disc, as the Moon appears to graze the Sun's edge. By contrast, those nearer the path of totality across most of Europe and northwestern Africa will see the vast majority of the Sun concealed.
The view from the Arab world
No Arab country lies within the path of totality, but several will still enjoy a striking partial eclipse:
Algeria is expected to have the best view in the region, with up to 96 per cent of the Sun obscured in parts of the country
Morocco is forecast to see up to 88 per cent coverage over Rabat
Tunisia is expected to experience around 50 per cent coverage
Mauritania is expected to see approximately 46 per cent coverage
Visibility across these countries will vary according to precise location and proximity to the Moon's shadow.
Will the UAE see the eclipse?
The UAE will miss out entirely. Ibrahim Al Jarwan, Chairman of the Emirates Astronomical Society and a member of the Arab Union for Astronomy and Space Sciences, confirmed to Al Khaleej newspaper that the total solar eclipse will not be visible from the UAE, as the country lies outside the eclipse's viewing path.
How to watch online
For those outside the path of totality live coverage will be available online:
NASA will stream the eclipse live from 1:15pm EDT on 12 August via nasa.gov/live
The European Space Agency (ESA) will host a live broadcast on YouTube from the Observatorio Astrofísico de Javalambre in Teruel, Spain, beginning at 19:30 CEST on 12 August
Information in this article is sourced from National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and European Space Agency (ESA)
