Solar eclipse in Camborne
Wednesday 12 August 2026 · Camborne, England
On 12 August 2026 the eclipse over Camborne will be partial: the Moon covers up to 95.5% of the Sun at 19:16, with the disc only 12.9° above the horizon. That places Camborne 4th of the 220 UK localities we compute. Totality is not reached anywhere in the United Kingdom.
Eclipse data for Camborne
Deep partial eclipse
95.5% of the Sun's area covered at maximum (magnitude 0.958 — that is the fraction of the Sun's diameter hidden, always the larger-sounding number)
- First contact
- 18:18
- Maximum eclipse
- 19:16
- Eclipse ends
- 20:10
- Sun's altitude at maximum
- 12.9°
All times in British Summer Time (BST, UTC+1) — the clock time everywhere in the UK on 12 August 2026. The whole event lasts about 1 h 51 min.
The evening in Camborne, phase by phase
- First contact: 18:18
- Maximum eclipse: 19:16
- Eclipse ends: 20:10
What it will actually look like
At 95.5% the dimming becomes genuinely strange: the light turns flat and metallic, colours drain towards grey, shadows sharpen and the air cools noticeably. It is still daylight — there is no corona and no darkness — but you would notice it even if nobody had told you. At maximum the Sun sits 12.9° above the horizon — low, so pick a spot with an open western skyline.
The eclipse in Camborne, told straight
The eclipse starts quietly in Camborne at 18:18, when the Moon takes its first, invisible-to-the-naked-eye nick out of the western edge of the Sun. Nothing about the evening will look unusual for a good while: through certified eclipse glasses the bite grows minute by minute, but the daylight around you barely reacts for the first half hour.
By maximum, at 19:16, the Moon covers 95.5% of the Sun — one of the deepest partial eclipses anywhere in England. This is where it gets strange: with only a few per cent of the disc left, the light goes flat and slightly metallic, colours lose their warmth, shadows cast through leaves turn into rows of thin crescents, and the temperature drops enough to feel on your arms. Birds often go quiet. It is not night, and it is not the eclipse people describe as life-changing — but it is unmistakably odd.
The Moon then slides off the disc and the eclipse ends at 20:10, with the Sun still up. The practical catch in Camborne is height, not timing: at maximum the Sun is only 12.9° above the horizon — roughly the width of your fist at arm's length — so a hill, a terrace of houses or a line of trees to the west-north-west can hide the whole thing. Choosing a spot with an open western skyline matters far more here than any equipment you could buy.
And the honest headline: 95.5% is not totality. Without the last sliver of photosphere going out there is no corona, no horizon-to-horizon twilight, no stars at teatime — and no moment at which it is safe to look without a filter. The nearest place that does reach 100% is Gozón (Asturias, Spain), about 736 km away in a straight line, where the Sun disappears completely for 1m 49s.
Cloud is the only variable this page cannot predict. British weather in mid-August is what it is; check the Met Office forecast in the final days, and — because the Sun is so low — have a second viewpoint in mind that faces a different stretch of horizon.
Circumstances computed for the coordinates of each locality with JPL DE440s ephemerides, the same pipeline that powers the Spanish and Icelandic pages on this site. All times are British Summer Time (UTC+1).
Never look at the Sun without certified filters
Because Camborne is outside the path of totality, there is no moment at all during this eclipse when it is safe to look at the Sun with unprotected eyes — not at 19:16, not at 95.5%, not through sunglasses or a phone screen. Use eclipse glasses or a handheld viewer marked EN ISO 12312-2 (also written ISO 12312-2:2015) on the frame, and check them for scratches or pinholes before the day.
Our full guidance is in the English guide to certified eclipse glasses. For an independent, non-commercial list of filters that have been tested, the American Astronomical Society keeps one at eclipse.aas.org/eye-safety/viewers-filters. Binoculars, telescopes and camera lenses need a filter fitted in front of the optics — eclipse glasses held to the eyepiece are not protection.
If 95.5% leaves you wanting the real thing
It is worth knowing what Camborne is missing, because the gap is not a matter of degree. Totality is a different event: the Sun's disc goes out entirely, the corona appears, the horizon glows all the way round and — for those seconds only — you look at it with your own eyes. At 95.5% none of that happens.
From Camborne there are two realistic ways to be inside the path on the same evening, and the numbers below come from the same computation as this page:
- Northern Spain. The nearest Spanish point in the path is Gozón (Asturias), about 736 km from here, with 1m 49s of totality. Spain gets the longest stretch of this eclipse over inhabited land — though there the Sun is also low, close to setting. Every Spanish town has its own page in our English coverage of Spain.
- Iceland. The nearest Icelandic point is Grindavíkurbær (Grindavíkurbær), about 1,820 km away, with 1m 30s. The draw is that Reykjavík itself is inside the path — 1m 02s of totality at 17:48 local time, with the Sun 24.5° high, far clear of the horizon problem that dogs the UK and Spain. It is a flight of roughly two to three hours from most UK airports. Our Iceland section →
Distances are straight-line, computed between coordinates — not travel distances.
Share the times for Camborne
Questions about the eclipse in Camborne
What time is the solar eclipse in Camborne?
On Wednesday 12 August 2026. In Camborne the partial phase begins at 18:18, maximum comes at 19:16 and the eclipse ends at 20:10 — all times BST (UTC+1). The whole event lasts about 1 h 51 min. Computed for this locality's own coordinates with JPL DE440s ephemerides.
Will the eclipse be total in Camborne?
No. Nowhere in the United Kingdom is inside the path of totality on 12 August 2026. In Camborne the Moon covers at most 95.5% of the Sun (magnitude 0.958, meaning 95.8% of the Sun's diameter), which ranks it 4 out of the 220 UK localities we compute. The nearest totality is Gozón (Asturias, Spain), about 736 km away, with 1m 49s of it.
How high will the Sun be from Camborne?
About 12.9° above the horizon at maximum — very low, since the eclipse happens in the evening. That is roughly a fist's width at arm's length. In practice it means you need a viewpoint with a clear view to the west-north-west; buildings, hills or trees in that direction will simply hide the eclipse.
Do I need eclipse glasses for a partial eclipse?
Yes, for every second of it. There is no safe moment to look at the Sun with the naked eye from Camborne: even with 95.5% covered, the remaining sliver is bright enough to burn the retina painlessly and permanently. Use glasses marked EN ISO 12312-2 (or ISO 12312-2:2015), and never sunglasses, exposed film, smoked glass or a phone camera.
Is it worth travelling from Camborne to see totality?
That is the honest question. A 95.5% partial eclipse and a total one are different phenomena, not different amounts of the same one. From Camborne the closest 100% is Gozón (Spain), about 736 km away — for most of the UK that means a short flight to northern Spain or to Iceland, where Reykjavík itself lies inside the path.
Where can I check the forecast for Camborne?
The Met Office (metoffice.gov.uk) publishes the official UK forecast; check it in the last few days rather than weeks ahead. Because the Sun will be so low in England, cloud sitting on the western horizon matters more than cloud overhead — worth a backup viewpoint.