Hopes for clear skies to watch Wednesday’s solar eclipse

EXCITEMENT is building for Wednesday’s almost total solar eclipse with hopes that the skies towards the west will be clear for people to witness the spectacle.

Shetland will have the lowest coverage of the sun in the UK at 88 per cent, while people in Cornwall will be able to witness 95 per cent of the sun being obscured by the moon.

Spectators in parts of Greenland, Iceland and northern Spain will be able to see a rare total eclipse lasting for a little over two minutes.

However, an 88 per cent coverage of the sun is still significantly more than what has been witnessed locally during recent partial solar eclipses, such as those on 10 June 2021 and 20 March 2015.

Solar eclipse occurs when the moon moves between the sun and the earth, blocking the sun’s light either partially or totally.

The eclipse will be visible in Shetland from 6pm, reaching its maximum at just before 7pm when it will be distinctively darker and birds might have gone quiet thinking it is night already.

The sun will be clear of the moon’s shadow by 8pm.

Local photographer Austin Taylor will be out for us to try to capture the natural phenomenon.

People are strongly advised to wear special glasses when watching the eclipse and never look into the sun directly as solar radiation can damage the retina.