Overview
- A total solar eclipse will cross a narrow path on Aug. 12, 2026, producing totality in eastern Greenland, western Iceland and parts of northern Spain and the Balearic Islands while much of Europe and parts of North America will see a deep partial eclipse.
- Eclipse cartographers published a new interactive map that uses the Sun’s corrected radius, the Moon’s exact profile and local topography to shift the path edges by up to several hundred metres which could add a tiny mountainous sliver of Portugal and change whether some Madrid and Bilbao suburbs see totality.
- The Balearic government has announced timed road restrictions and access controls for Mallorca and nearby islands to prevent congestion and keep emergency routes clear with many controls planned between mid‑afternoon and about 9pm local time.
- Health and astronomy authorities are reiterating that viewers must use ISO 12312‑2 certified eclipse glasses or indirect viewers for every partial phase, that only during the brief seconds of totality may glasses be removed, and that counterfeit or damaged filters and unsafe use of binoculars or telescopes risk permanent eye injury.
- Scientists and agencies including NASA and ESA have organised aircraft, balloon and ground observation campaigns plus livestreams, and observers are warned that weather, low western horizons at sunset sites and local terrain will be the decisive factors for whether planned viewing sites actually see totality.