Total solar eclipse 2024 highlights: Rare phenomenon darkens North America’s skies

You don’t need Nasa to tell you where in the US is going to get a total eclipse - you can just look at bookings on Airbnb.

Data gathered by AirDNA shows a massive spike in short-term rentals on platforms like Airbnb on 7 April and 9 April, as tourists hopeful of getting the best view of the solar eclipse flocking to the path of totality.

We’ll have an update of the latest weather forecast soon, but it looks like many of those making the bookings will be disappointed.

A reminder that it is not only in North America that the solar eclipse will be visible. Partial obscuration of the Sun will take place as far away as the UK and Ireland - thousands of kilometres away from the path of totality.

There will be a brief moment to witness it before sunset at around 8pm, with the partial solar eclipse crossing over the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales and the west of England.

The best place to see it in the British Isles will be the west coast of Ireland. More than a third of the Sun will be covered in Galway, while Cork and Limerick will see around 20 per cent obscuration.

In England, just a tiny slice of less than one per cent of the Sun will be covered by the Moon in Liverpool and Manchester.

You can find out more about how to see the solar eclipse in the UK here.

The UK Met Office has helpfully provided a graphic showing the weather forecast for the path of totality in the US for today’s solar eclipse.

There is heavy rain across much of the southern US, with both Austin and Nashville potentially facing at least partial cloud cover. Luckily, most other spots look like they will get clear skies.

“For many along the optimal path with weather will allow a good view,” the Met Office says.

Unfortunately for those in the UK and Ireland, the weather forecast is not looking so favourable.

We’ve heard from astrophysicist Jonathan Blazek from Northeastern University in the US, who says that even those not directly beneath the path of totality will have the opportunity to gain a few minutes of “cosmic perspective” during Monday’s eclipse.

Professor Blazek tells The Independent that he is organising a viewing event on Northeastern’s Boston campus, which will see about 93 per cent totality.

It’s always worth remembering that eye safety is very important when it comes to looking at the Sun, even when the Moon is partially in the way. If not, the Sun’s rays can permanently damage your eyesight.

This is something former US president Donald Trump seemed to forget during the last solar eclipse over the US in 2017. The reality TV star stared directly at the Sun with no protection over his eyes.

Not one to miss an opportunity for a shot at his rival, President Joe Biden shared a video on Instagram and X showing him in the same spot Trump stood seven years ago.

“An eclipse is worth marveling at,” he wrote. “But don’t be silly, folks – play it safe and wear protective eyewear.”

As excitement builds in Montreal – the only big city in the zone of totality with clear skies – Montreal City News reporter Swidda Rassy has been speaking to The Independent.

“The city is going crazy for this total solar eclipse,” she says. “It’s been on the news for so long. The government and just everybody is pushing to get those safe solar eclipse glasses.”

Tourism is up in Montreal. The Montreal hotel occupancy rate is around 70 to 75 per cent. And that is way above the normal rate for April.

“There’s just so many people that I’ve spoke with from America, mostly from Connecticut, London and people are coming from around the world just to check out the solar eclipse,” Ms Rassy adds.

“The weather is beautiful. I think that’s one of the main reasons why a lot of people are here. It’s supposed to be clear, sunny skies. So, yeah, a lot of people are excited.”

Ms Rassy sympathised with eclipse chasers who have headed for Niagara Falls, 400 miles southwest, where cloud cover is expected.

“I know it’s such a disappointment because I did hear that Niagara Falls is supposed to be one of the best destinations,” she says.

“Sorry, to people who are going to go to Niagara Falls. But here in Montreal, the weather is great, and it feels like an underrated spot. This solar eclipse – it’s a nice one for the history books, for sure.”

When the Moon moves in front of the Sun and the sky darkens, celestial features that you can normally only see at night will briefly be visible.

Jupiter, Mars, Saturn and Venus will all be nearby the Moon and the Sun, with Venus being particularly easy to spot.

The Lodge at Wyckoff Maple – just outside Jeffersonville, Vermont – was fully booked for the eclipse. Owner Tom Wyckoff hadn’t known the eclipse was coming until about a month ago, he’d assumed the rush in bookings had been for a local wedding.

He had just charged the regular rate – he’d been horrified to hear of other Airbnb hosts later that had cancelled bookings and upped prices four times higher once they realised they could make a lot of eclipse guests. Him and wife Karen put on a special pancakes and maple syrup eclipse morning breakfast for guests.

His son Jordan Wyckoff dipped his pancake directly into the fresh maple syrup coming from the Wyckoff Family Maple sugar house – it was the very end of the sugaring season, the last batch of syrup they were expecting to boil.

Jordan said his wife saw on the news that the weather was cloudier down south – “so everyone is driving up here”.

Last week there had been a late huge dump of snow, the local ski resort Smuggler’s Notch seeing snowboarder and skiers taking advantage of the fresh powder.

On Monday morning, it was blue sky sunshine and the snow was melting. Jordan said he was going to watch the eclipse from the porch with his kids – everyone was hoping the blue skies lasted until the afternoon. “We say around here, if you don’t like the weather, just wait five minutes.”

The folks over at the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have shared an animation that shows just how much today’s solar eclipse will impact the heating of the Earth.

Incoming solar radiation will drop from above 700 watts per metre-squared to nearly zero when the Moon passes directly in front of the Sun.

“Scientists at NOAA GSL are calculating how much the moon will block incoming solar radiation, which impacts heating of the Earth and therefore the weather,” the US governemnt agency wrote in a post to X.

We’re about 90 minutes away from the total eclipse beginning in the US.

If you want to know the exact time that it starts where you are, here’s a handy map shared by Accuweather.