Look Up! Rare Partial Solar Eclipse to Grace Dorset Skies Tomorrow

Skywatchers across Dorset are in for a spectacular treat tomorrow evening Wednesday, 12 August as a rare partial solar eclipse will be visible across the UK.

The event will be the most significant solar eclipse seen from Britain in more than a decade, with around 94–96% of the Sun expected to be covered in Dorset, depending on your exact location. While the Moon will not completely block the Sun, it will take a dramatic “bite” out of it, creating an unforgettable sight in the evening sky.

When to watch

For Dorset, the eclipse is expected to occur at approximately:

Starts: Around 6:00pm
Maximum eclipse: Around 7:10pm
Ends: Around 8:10pm

The best chance of seeing the eclipse will be where skies remain clear and you have an unobstructed view towards the western horizon, as the Sun will be low in the sky.

Watch safely

Experts are reminding everyone never to look directly at the Sun, even during a partial eclipse, as doing so can cause permanent eye damage.

Safe ways to enjoy the eclipse include:

✅ Wearing ISO 12312-2 certified solar eclipse glasses
✅ Using a pinhole projector, which projects the Sun’s image onto a surface without looking at it directly.
✅ Looking at the crescent-shaped shadows created through a colander or between the leaves of trees.
✅ Viewing the eclipse through specially designed solar filters fitted to telescopes or binoculars.

Do not use:

❌ Ordinary sunglasses.
❌ Cameras, telescopes or binoculars without approved solar filters.
❌ Homemade filters such as smoked glass or CDs/DVDs.

A rare event

The eclipse is part of a total solar eclipse crossing parts of Iceland and northern Spain, while the UK will experience one of the deepest partial eclipses in decades. After tomorrow, it will be many years before Britain experiences another eclipse of this magnitude.

If weather conditions cooperate, thousands of people across Dorset are expected to head outdoors to witness the celestial event.

Will you be watching? Share your eclipse photos with Tide News – we’d love to feature the best images from across Dorset.