Hazard warning as eclipse looms

Part of the sun will be blotted out by a partial solar eclipse tomorrow.

Between a 10th and a third of the sun will appear to be covered by the moon, depending on where the event is viewed from.

The eclipse will occur over the whole of Ireland and the UK. A total eclipse, in which the sun is completely hidden, will be seen in other parts of the world, including Canada, Greenland, Russia.

The partial eclipse will begin at about 9.32am and will last about 40 minutes, depending on where one is located.

Solar eclipses occur when the sun, moon and Earth line up in space.

Robin Scagell, vice-president of the UK's Society for Popular Astronomy, warned that watching eclipses could be hazardous.

“The sun is a dangerously bright object and must never be viewed directly unless you have special eclipse glasses, welder’s goggles, or a professional solar filter,” he said. “Sunglasses are not safe and never use home-made filters such as CDs, photographic negatives or coloured film. They are dangerous and can let through invisible radiation that can blind you.

“You can use a telescope or binoculars to project the sun’s disc on to a piece of card or a screen.”