The Eclipse
The eclipse will be total in a 5850 km long path that runs from the south of Greenland, between Iceland and Scotland, over the Faroe islands and the Svalbard archipel, and ends at the North Pole. The eclipse will be greatest to the east of Iceland at 09:45:39UT, lasting 2m46.9s. The width of the totality path varies between 410 and 492 km. More general info on solar eclipses can be found on links.
Barring cloudy circumstances, Belgium will enjoy a deep partial eclipse. In Uccle, the partial phase will start at 09:27:16 Local Time. Maximum will be at 10:34:28LT, with 83% of the solar diameter covered by the Moon. The eclipse will end at 11:45:24LT. For other places in Belgium, these timings may vary by 1-2 minutes, with coverage between 80% and 85%.
In Belgium, the effects of the eclipse will be limited to some darkening that may be noticeable around the time of maximal partial phase (10:34LT, so between 10:20 and 10:50LT). Shadows may become sharper, and the sky may appear somewhat more grayish instead of the usual blue color. Some reactions of animals or plants are possible. A small temperature drop of a few tenths of a degree is possible, and electricity generated by solar panels will be less than during a normal day. Compared to a clear sky day, the continental European power system may experience a power drop from the solar cells of 34 Giga Watt around 10:41LT. Mitigating actions are in place and will be coordinated by the European transmission system operators (source: entso-e ).
Remark : Belgian Local Time (LT) = Universal Time (UT) + 1 hour
