Partial solar eclipse: where will it be visible in Greece

The total solar eclipse on Wednesday, August 12, 2026, is not visible from Greece. The zone of totality, which is the narrow band of Earth’s surface from which the solar disk is completely covered by the Moon, crosses Greenland, Iceland, and Spain, leaving the eastern Mediterranean outside the event. This is the first total eclipse visible from continental Europe in decades, a fact that has mobilized thousands of observers toward Spain and Iceland.

Greece is located at the eastern edge of the visibility zone of the partial phase. Practically, this means that in the country only a very small partial phase will be observed, approximately from 8:30 p.m. to 8:40 p.m. Greece time, that is, only a few minutes before the sunset of the Sun.

The conditions for the phenomenon to be visible are demanding: a clear sky is needed and a completely unobstructed view to the west, as the Sun will be extremely low on the horizon. Any obstacle, from a mountain to a building, is enough to cancel the observation.

The best observation points are the Ionian Islands and the western coasts of the country, where the horizon to the west is free above the sea. In Corfu, the phenomenon starts around 8:33 p.m., with the coverage of the solar disk reaching around 2%, a percentage that is difficult to perceive without equipment.

Indicative values published for other cities in northwestern Greece show coverage of approximately 2.35% in Corfu with a maximum at 8:37 p.m., 1.29% in Igoumenitsa at 8:36 p.m., 1.21% in Kastoria at 8:34 p.m., and 0.73% in Ioannina at 8:35 p.m. The differences reflect the distance of each city from the zone of totality: the farther northwest a point is located, the larger the portion of the solar disk covered.

In Athens and in eastern and southeastern Greece, the phenomenon will practically not be visible, as the capital is outside the useful observation window. There will also be no noticeable darkening of the sky anywhere in the country, given the very small percentage of solar disk coverage.

Astronomical societies remind that observation of the Sun, even during an eclipse and even when it is low on the horizon, should not be done with the naked eye or with simple sunglasses, but only with specially certified filters. More from Greece on the Greece page.