Six Days Until the Solar Eclipse — Where It's Total, Where It's Partial, and What Not to Do

In six days, on the morning of March 29, the moon will slide between the Earth and the sun and produce the first notable eclipse event visible from populated areas since 2024. This one is an annular solar eclipse — commonly called a "ring of fire" eclipse — meaning that at maximum coverage along the central path, the moon does not completely cover the solar disk. A bright ring of sunlight remains visible around the moon's silhouette. It is striking. It is also the eclipse type that sends the most people to the emergency room with eye damage, for reasons that will be addressed directly below.

The path of annularity runs from the Atlantic Ocean west of Africa, makes landfall in northwestern Morocco and northern Algeria, crosses the Strait of Gibraltar, traverses the northwestern corner of Spain and Portugal, passes over Ireland and Scotland, clips Iceland, and terminates in the Arctic Ocean north of Svalbard. Cities inside or very close to the annular path include Fez in Morocco, A Coruña and Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, and Reykjavik in Iceland, where the ring-of-fire phase will last between two and four minutes depending on precise location within the path. Maximum eclipse — the point on Earth's surface where the angular alignment is most precise — occurs over the open Atlantic at approximately 10:47 a.m. UTC.

For the vast majority of observers across Europe, this is a partial eclipse, and still worth watching. London will see roughly 55% of the sun covered at peak. Paris, about 50%. Madrid, which sits just south of the annular path, will see approximately 75% coverage — one of the better partial eclipse views on the continent without needing to travel to Galicia. The eclipse begins before 10 a.m. local time across most of western Europe and ends by noon. Eastern Europe and Scandinavia get a smaller bite — 25–35% coverage — but enough to create a noticeable dimming of ambient light if skies are clear.

“For the vast majority of observers across Europe, this is a partial eclipse, and still worth watching.”

North American viewers east of the Mississippi will see a partial eclipse as well, though modest. Boston gets approximately 15% coverage. New York City, around 12%. Further south and west, coverage drops toward zero. Los Angeles and Chicago will see nothing. For Americans who want the full experience, flying to Spain for the week is a genuine option: eclipse tourism is a documented industry, and northwestern Spain in late March happens to be both accessible and pleasant, with the added appeal of being the kind of trip that serves a purpose beyond standing in a field staring upward.

Here is the thing that trips people up every single time, and the reason NASA and ophthalmology groups invest significant effort in public education before every eclipse: annular eclipses are not safe to view with the naked eye. Ever. During a total eclipse, there is a brief window — totality — when the sun is completely blocked and it is safe to remove eclipse glasses for direct viewing. That window does not exist during an annular eclipse because the solar disk is never fully covered. The ring of sunlight that persists is more than sufficient to cause retinal damage if you look directly at it without protection. The rule is simple and absolute: ISO 12312-2 certified eclipse glasses on for the entire duration, from first contact to last contact.

Regular sunglasses do not qualify. Camera filters designed for photography do not qualify for naked-eye viewing. Welding glass rated below shade 14 does not qualify. The ISO 12312-2 standard is the number to look for, and it should be printed directly on the glasses, not just on the packaging. At this point, six days out, availability at physical stores in Europe will be spotty; ordering online with expedited shipping is the more reliable path.

The logistical wildcard for European viewers is weather. Late March in northern Spain and Ireland is unpredictable. Northwest Spain is notably wetter in late winter and early spring than its interior regions. Forecast services will be unreliable until approximately 72 hours before the eclipse. The standard eclipse-planning advice is to identify a primary viewing location on the path and a backup location within a few hours' drive in a potentially different weather corridor. A Coruña to Bilbao is about 3.5 hours and spans different microclimate zones. If you're traveling specifically for the eclipse, building in flexibility is not optional.

For everyone else, NASA will livestream from multiple ground-based stations along the path and from the International Space Station. That stream is worth watching regardless of your location. The view of the moon's shadow moving across the Earth's surface at roughly 1,800 miles per hour — visible from orbit as a dark oval sweeping across the Atlantic and into Europe — is one of those images that recalibrates the scale of things in a way that a partial eclipse, viewed through a filter from a city park, does not.

The next solar eclipse with an annular or total path crossing major European population centers is August 2026. The next one reaching the continental United States is 2033.