Met Office reveals west of Scotland best place to view solar eclipse

The Met Office has revealed that the west of Scotland is the best location to view the UK’s fullest solar eclipse for the next 54 years on Wednesday.

The moon will obscure more than 90% of the sun between 6.17pm and 8.06pm on August 12, the most it has been blocked above UK skies since the total eclipse in 1999.

Those living in Inverness will likely see the moon obscure 90.74% of the sun at 7.03pm, and in Edinburgh, 90.71% of the sun will be hidden at 7.06pm.

Aberdeenshire, Orkney and the Shetland Islands will only see 88% to 90% of solar coverage.

Those living on the Western Isles and along the west coast will see between 92% to 94% of the sun obscured; however, visibility may be difficult due to cloud cover.

While on the east coast the sky will be clearer.

The Met Office has released where the best places to see the solar eclipse Met Office

As for the rest of the UK, Devon, Cornwall and the westernmost parts of Pembrokeshire in Wales are set to see the eclipse at its fullest, with a range of 94% to 96% of the sun obscured by the moon.

Plymouth in particular is forecast to see the moon cover 94.66% of the sun at 7.16pm on Wednesday, according to the Met Office.

The Royal Greenwich Observatory also warned the public that regular sunglasses are not a safe enough method to view the cosmic phenomenon.

The next time the moon obscures as much of the sun will be in 2081 and the next total solar eclipse in the UK will be in 2090.