Solar eclipse 2021: ‘Ring of fire’ sweeps across the world

A solar eclipse is visible over the Earth’s northern hemisphere with parts of Canada and Siberia privy to the best view of the celestial event.

The eclipse is partial, which means the people in its shadow won’t be plunged into daytime darkness.

The eclipse is partly visible to observers in northwest North America, parts of Europe including France and the UK, and some of northern Asia.

If skies are clear, Londoners will be able to see the moon cover 20 percent of the sun at its maximum, at 11.13am local time (10:13 GMT).

“The farther southeast people are, the less the sun will be obscured,” Florent Delefie of the Paris Observatory told AFP.

He stressed that people must never look directly at the sun — even with sunglasses or from behind a cloud — warning “retinal burns can be irreversible”.