Moon's Tekkin a Proper Chunk Out the Sun Tomorrow Tea-Time Deep Partial Solar Eclipse Hits West Cumbria on Wednesday Evening
Marra Mode is how we'd tell you this in the Co-op. Switch it off for the straight version.
Tomorrow night the Moon covers about nine-tenths of the Sun over Workington, Maryport and Whitehaven. Peak's about 7.06pm — glasses on, face west, don't be a daftie.
Right, marras — tomorrow night's the big one. Wednesday 12 August, the Moon's garn slap bang between us and the Sun, and West Cumbria gets a proper deep bite. Not total like Spain and Iceland — we don't get the full blackout and that fancy corona — but about 88% covered at the peak. That's the deepest the UK's seen since 1999, so don't shrug it off.
Here's your clock for the west coast (BST):
Starts about 6.11pm — little nibble on the right of the Sun.
Deepest about 7.06pm — thin crescent left at the top, looks a bit like a frown.
Done about 8.03pm — Moon slides off left and you're back to a normal August evening.
Workington, Maryport, Whitehaven — same times, give or take nowt. Face west-northwest. And get out of town if you can, cos roofs and trees love sitting reet where the Sun'll be.
Good spots if you want a proper horizon: St Bees Head, Whitehaven cliffs above Saltom, Oldside shore in Workington, Maryport Battery, Allonby beach, or up Dent Fell if you're feeling keen. Anywhere wi' a clear look out over the Irish Sea or Solway'll do.
Weather's the joker. As of Tuesday night it looked warm and dry, but cloud building into tea-time. If there's a thick bank sitting out west, you might see nowt even if it looks bright overhead. Check Met Office / BBC on the day. NASA stream from about 6.15pm if the sky bottles it.
And listen — sunglasses are useless. Proper eclipse glasses the whole time, or don't look. Don't point your phone or binos at it either unless you've got a proper solar filter on the front. Cloud doesn't make it safe. Kids same rules. Partial eclipses are when folk wreck their eyes cos it still "looks like daytime."
Finish work early if you can, be in place for six, glasses ready, and enjoy the weird light when it peaks. If the cloud wins, stick the NASA stream on — but if it's clear, get yasel outside. You won't catch another one like this next month.
West Cumbria will see around 88% of the Sun covered at peak around 7.06pm on 12 August — local times, where to stand, and how to watch safely.
West Cumbria is in for one of the deepest solar eclipses the UK has seen since 1999 on Wednesday 12 August 2026 — but it will not be total here.
Along a narrow track through Greenland, Iceland, the Atlantic and northern Spain, the Sun will be completely blocked for up to about two minutes. From Workington, Maryport, Whitehaven and inland spots with a clear western sky, residents get a deep partial instead: roughly 88% of the solar disc covered at maximum.
Local times for the west coast (British Summer Time) are approximately:
Partial begins — about 6.11pm, with the first bite on the Sun's right-hand edge.
Maximum — about 7.06pm, leaving a thin crescent at the top of the disc.
Partial ends — about 8.03pm, as the Moon slips away to the left.
Times are virtually the same from Workington through to Maryport. At peak the Sun is still well clear of the west-northwest horizon, so you are not racing sunset.
Town centres often spoil the view with roofs and trees sitting exactly where the Sun will be. Better bets are open west-facing ground: St Bees Head, the cliff path above Saltom Bay at Whitehaven, Workington's Oldside shore, the raised seafront by Maryport Battery, Allonby Beach, or higher inland picks such as Dent Fell near Cleator Moor.
Forecast models into Tuesday evening pointed to a warm dry day with cloud building into the 6–8pm window. A thicker bank to the west-northwest could still hide the disc even if the sky overhead looks bright — keep an eye on Met Office and BBC Weather updates on the day. NASA is expected to livestream from about 6.15pm BST as a backup.
Eye safety is not optional. This is not totality in Cumbria, so proper ISO-certified eclipse glasses (or a handheld solar viewer) are needed for every direct look. Ordinary sunglasses will not protect you. Never point a phone, binoculars or telescope at the Sun without a proper solar filter on the front of the optic. Cloud does not make staring safe if the Sun is still bright enough to cast shadows.
UK health and astronomy groups have been repeating the same warning for weeks: partial eclipses are when people get hurt, because it still looks like daytime. Indirect viewing — a pinhole projector, or crescent-shaped patches of light under a leafy tree — remains a solid backup if glasses are scarce.
If the weather plays ball, Wednesday tea-time is the show. If it does not, the NASA stream is the fallback — and an eclipse this deep over West Cumbria is not coming around again next month.