By Jamie White – Head of Communications

The UK will experience its biggest solar eclipse since 1999 tomorrow morning (Friday), as parts of Britain prepare to be plunged into partial darkness.

While some parts of the world will see a total eclipse, Britain will see between 80-90 per cent of the Sun’s surface shrouded in darkness, as the moon passes in front of the sun.

In the last 500 years there have only been eight total solar eclipses that could be seen from the UK. The last one, 16 years ago, saw thousands of people travelled to Devon and Cornwall to see it in its entirety.

Tomorrow’s eclipse will start at approximately 8.24am and will darken over the course of an hour, before taking another hour to return back to normal.

A clear horizon is best for an uninterrupted view of the action, but wherever people are in Britain, they should see the sky darken and feel a drop in temperature.

However, smog from the continent is also threatening to blank out the skies for many star gazers, who are advised not to look directly at the sun, or use binoculars, but wear special solar specs.

A solar eclipse can only happen at new moon, when the moon directly blocks sight of the sun from certain places in the world. It can take place up to five times a year, though according to Nasa, only 25 years in the past 5,000 have had five solar eclipses.

The UK will not see another total eclipse until 2090.