Eclipse glasses sell out as UK braces for rare solar event

Specialist eclipse glasses are all but sold out online as Britain prepares for its biggest solar event since 1999. The partial eclipse on 12 August 2026 will cover around 90% to 96% of the Sun in the UK and Ireland, making it the best solar eclipse visible from the region so far this century.

Demand has already spilled onto the high street. At a bakery in central London, a staff member said, “I've sold, like, 100 this morning,” as customers bought eclipse glasses rather than food. Health officials have said anyone who wants to watch the eclipse must use specialist glasses, and the UK Health Security Agency published safety advice on 23 July 2026 on how to watch the event safely.

The warnings have sharpened as proper glasses become harder to find. The American Academy of Ophthalmology says buyers should purchase solar eclipse filters and glasses from reputable manufacturers, while the American Astronomical Society also maintains guidance on how to tell whether viewers are safe. The Royal Observatory Greenwich says the eclipse should be viewed only with proper solar filters or eclipse glasses, not with improvised protection, and experts have warned that looking directly at the Sun, even briefly, can cause permanent vision damage.

The supply scramble has revived memories of the last total solar eclipse visible from mainland Britain on 11 August 1999, when totality reached only Cornwall in south-west England. BBC archive footage from that event described how the temperature dropped and darkness fell, and BBC coverage said millions of people witnessed the last total solar eclipse of the 20th century. Sky News has said a total solar eclipse will not be visible from the UK until 2090, leaving next year’s event as the closest most people in Britain are likely to get for decades.