Rare total solar eclipse set to dazzle UK on March 20

UK is getting ready for the rare phenomenon of supermoon total solar eclipse on March 20, when the moon covers the sun, blocking out its light.

The spectacular display had been predicted to be the biggest solar eclipse for 15 years, since the UK was plunged into darkness in 1999 and until 2026.

The equinox eclipse is expected to cause power disruption in a massive way across the nation since 35,000 MW of power will be lost as people witness the rare phenomenon.

Total solar eclipses take place when the Earth, Moon and Sun are almost precisely aligned and the shadow of the Moon touches the surface of the Earth. At mid-eclipse, observers within the lunar shadow briefly see totality, where the silhouette of the Moon completely covers the Sun, revealing the beautiful outer solar atmosphere or corona.

Totality would be visible this time along a track a few hundred kilometres wide, which only intersects two landmasses, the Faroe Islands midway between Scotland and Iceland, and the arctic archipelago of Svalbard. Observers in those locations would see between two and two-and-a-half minutes of totality.

Away from the path of the total eclipse the Sun would only be partly obscured by the Moon. This time the partial eclipse would be visible across a large part of the northern hemisphere, including the whole of Europe, Greenland, Newfoundland, northern Africa and western Asia.

A night before the eclipse, the sun will be as close to the moon as it can ever be. This will give rise to a phenomenon called "Supermoon.