Total solar eclipse sweeps across Europe

A rare total solar eclipse has swept across parts of Europe, briefly turning day into night for a few minutes, the Russian space corporation Roscosmos announced.

The eclipse began at around 17:00 GMT over Russia’s far north, near the Arctic, with the Moon’s shadow tracking across the Northern Hemisphere through the Atlantic Ocean, Greenland, and Iceland.

Spain offered the best vantage point for the event, as the shadow crossed the country diagonally from the Atlantic coast to the Mediterranean before fading at around 18:30 GMT.

A partial eclipse was visible across most of Europe, Canada, the northern United States, and northwestern Africa. During the crucial minutes of totality, the Moon completely blocked the Sun’s disk, causing temperatures to drop and the angles of shadows to shift in unusual ways.

The alignment gives scientists an exceptional chance to study the Sun’s atmosphere, shedding light on the solar wind and the Sun’s magnetic field.

Source: Qatar News Agency (QNA), citing Roscosmos. Moscow, August 12, 2026.