A total solar eclipse will be visible from parts of mainland Western Europe on Wednesday for the first time since 1999, with the Moon’s shadow sweeping across the Arctic before reaching Iceland, northern Spain and parts of Portugal.

The eclipse’s path of totality will begin over northern Siberia before crossing the Arctic Ocean and eastern Greenland, then passing over western Iceland and northern Spain.

It will briefly clip northeastern Portugal before ending around sunset over Spain’s Mediterranean coast and the Balearic Islands.

Maximum totality will occur over the North Atlantic, west of Iceland. Reykjavík will experience totality at 5.48pm local time (1548 GMT).

Parts of northern Spain, including A Coruña and Bilbao, will also experience totality shortly before sunset, with the eclipse beginning at around 8.28pm local time (1828 GMT) in northwestern Spain.

Madrid and Barcelona will see a partial eclipse, as will much of the rest of Europe.

A total solar eclipse occurs when the Moon moves close enough to Earth to appear large enough to completely cover the Sun.

As daylight briefly turns to darkness, temperatures can fall, and stars may become visible.

During totality, observers can also see the Sun’s outer atmosphere, known as the corona.

The eclipse will be visible as a partial event across much of the Northern Hemisphere.

Large parts of Europe, including the UK, Ireland, France and Italy, will see the Moon cover a significant portion of the Sun before sunset.

Northwestern Africa will also experience a deep partial eclipse.

Parts of North America, including northern and eastern Canada, Alaska and the northern United States, will also see a partial eclipse.

Experts warn that looking directly at the Sun remains dangerous, and proper solar viewing glasses should be used throughout the eclipse, except during the brief period of totality when the Sun is completely covered.

The next total solar eclipses will be visible in Australia and New Zealand in 2028, southern Africa in 2030 and Japan in 2035.

Totality will return to North America in 2044, when the Moon’s shadow will cross western Canada and the western United States.

A coast-to-coast total eclipse across Canada and the United States will follow in 2045.

Western Europe will have to wait much longer for its next total eclipses.

The next total eclipse visible from France is expected in 2081, while the UK will not see one until 2090.

Germany’s next total eclipse is not expected until the following century.

The 2026 event is the first of three successive solar eclipses visible from Spain.

It will be followed by another total solar eclipse on August 2, 2027, whose path of totality will cross southern Spain before moving through Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Yemen.

An annular solar eclipse will then be visible from Spain on January 26, 2028.

Unlike a total eclipse, an annular eclipse occurs when the Moon is farther from Earth and appears slightly smaller than the Sun.

It does not completely cover the solar disc, leaving a bright ring of sunlight known as the “ring of fire” around the Moon.

The 2028 event will be followed by a period without annular solar eclipses crossing Europe, with subsequent events expected over Australia, southern Africa and parts of the Middle East during the 2030s.