Solar eclipse: UK to see clear skies across large parts on Saturday

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There will be clear skies over large parts of the UK during a partial solar eclipse on Saturday morning, according to the latest weather forecasts form the Met Office.

Roughly one third of the Sun will be covered when the Moon passes in front of it, beginning at around 10am on 29 March.

It will be the last partial solar eclipse of 2025 for Europe, with the only other one taking place over New Zealand and Antarctica in September.

Saturday’s eclipse is expected to be visible in the UK from 9.56am to 12.14pm on Saturday, with the peak in London at around 11.03am.

Times for the partial solar eclipse across the UK and Europe on 29 March, 2025 (Star Walk app/ Screenshot)

Those in northern parts of Scotland and Northern Ireland – which on a clear day would be one of the best places for viewing the eclipse – may be left disappointed due to cloud cover.

“There’s patchy cloud around on Saturday in the south,” said Stephen Dixon, spokesperson for the Met Office.

“The north west of Scotland, which has the best window for seeing the partial solar eclipse, is unfortunately going to see rain and cloudy skies.

“However, those further south in England on Saturday should see some break in the cloud.”

Most parts of England and Wales will have clear skies during the partial solar eclipse on the 29 March, according to Thursday's forecast from the UK Met Office — Most parts of England and Wales will have clear skies during the partial solar eclipse on the 29 March, according to Thursday’s forecast from the UK Met Office (Met Office/ Screenshot)

Wet weather is expected to move in over the next few days, with rain forecast in Scotland and western parts of Northern Ireland on Thursday and lighter bursts moving south-eastwards to England.

Mr Dixon added: “There’s a bit of a split for the weekend weather, with more frequent wind and rain in the north of the country, particularly Scotland and Northern Ireland.

“Those further south will generally be drier through the day on Saturday.

“Hints of high pressure building from the south west will, on Sunday and through to the start of the week, settle the UK’s weather down again and bring a fair degree of dry, fine weather with patchy clouds at times, but also some sunshine as we move through to the start of next week.

“It’s fairly common for UK spring that we get these periods of rain, of fronts moving in from the west and northwest and also high pressure moving in from the south. Really it’s part of the UK’s position meteorologically, we see these competing dominant weather regimes.”

Temperatures could peak at 17C in the south east of England on Sunday, with highs of 14C possible further north.

Another phenomenon, the Northern Lights, were visible in Whitley Bay, Tyne and Wear, early on Wednesday, where skies remained clear.

Mr Dixon said: “People have noticed the Northern Lights more in the last year as the Sun is in its solar maximum phase of an 11-year cycle, meaning higher frequency of solar activity on the Sun.

“It can interact with the Earth’s atmosphere and bring us the Northern Lights as we know them in the UK.

Northern parts of the UK will see around 40 per cent of the Sun covered during the partial solar eclipse on 29 March, 2025, with London seeing 30 per cent coverage. Parts of Canada will witness a 90 per cent eclipse (TimeandDate)

The best place to see the partial solar eclipse on Saturday will be in the north east of Canada, with more than 90 per cent of the Sun covered by the Moon.

There are currently forecasts of snow in the region for Saturday, which would completely block any views of the event.

Additional reporting from agencies.

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