Where to Buy Solar Eclipse Glasses in the UK Before 12 August

On Wednesday 12 August the Moon covers between 91% and 95% of the Sun across the United Kingdom — the deepest eclipse here since 1999. It happens in the evening, it lasts nearly two hours, and at no point is it safe to look at without a filter.

If you are reading this in the days before, the useful questions are narrow: where do you actually buy certified glasses, how do you tell a real pair from a fake, and what do you do if nothing arrives in time. There is a good answer to the last one, and it is free.

How much of the Sun does the UK actually see?

Between about 91% and 95%, depending where you stand. The Royal Astronomical Society published city figures on 6 August.

The south-west does best; the Royal Observatory Greenwich puts Cornwall at roughly 95% too. The last time the UK did better than this was 1999, when Cornwall saw actual totality.

That “91%” is the number that catches people out. It sounds like almost-darkness. It is not — the remaining sliver of Sun is still overwhelmingly bright, and it is bright in exactly the way that damages a retina without hurting at the time.

Do I really need glasses for a partial eclipse?

Yes, for every minute of it, and there is no exception anywhere in the UK.

The rule that lets people take filters off during an eclipse applies only inside totality, and totality does not touch the UK on this date. Our main eclipse guide covers where it does go — Iceland and northern Spain.

The UK Health Security Agency is blunt about the most common mistake: “Ordinary sunglasses — no matter how dark — do not provide adequate protection for viewing a solar eclipse.” Its explanation of why is the part worth remembering. Dark lenses make it comfortable to keep looking, while still letting harmful radiation reach the retina. The discomfort that would normally stop you is removed; the damage is not.

Two other things that are not safe, from the Royal Observatory Greenwich and NASA respectively:

• A telescope or binoculars without a proper front-mounted solar filter. Never.
• Looking through a camera, telescope or binoculars while wearing eclipse glasses. The optic concentrates the light and can burn straight through the filter.

Where can I buy eclipse glasses in the UK?

Start with the two names the UK authorities actually put in writing.

The UK Health Security Agency tells people to buy from “reputable retailers, including Royal Museums Greenwich” — that is Greenwich naming itself as a supplier via a government health agency, which is about as clean a signal as this market offers.

The Royal Astronomical Society directs readers to ukeclipse.com. Be clear about what that site is: it does not sell glasses itself. It is an information and signposting project whose listed partners include the RAS, the British Astronomical Association, the Society for Popular Astronomy and Go Stargazing, and it points to where to get them.

For manufacturers, the American Astronomical Society runs the vetting that the rest of the trade leans on. Its list is the closest thing to an authority on who actually makes compliant filters, and it includes suppliers serving the UK and Europe — among them Sollunae (UK sales), Absolute Eclipse, and Baader Planetarium, the German maker whose AstroSolar film is a long-standing standard for solar filters.

What the AAS asks you to do is simple and is the single most useful instruction in this article: buy directly from a known manufacturer, or from a dealer that manufacturer publicly names. It warns specifically against buying from general online marketplaces, or from local shops “who may not know anything about solar eclipses”.

How do I know a pair is genuine?

Not by the writing on the glasses. This is where a lot of well-meaning advice goes wrong.

Greenwich and the RAS both tell you to check for ISO 12312-2 — the full designation UKHSA gives is ISO 12312-2:2015(E) — printed on the frame. That is correct as far as it goes: if it is not there, do not use them.

But the AAS makes the point that the marking cannot be the test: anyone can print those characters, and the worst counterfeits go further and print a real American manufacturer’s name on the frame. A printed claim proves that someone owned a printer.

So the test is the chain, not the label:

That last row is the practical one. A compliant filter is so dark that indoors you should see essentially nothing through it. If you can make out room lights or furniture, it is not a solar filter.

Can I still get a pair in time?

Possibly, if you order immediately — but plan as though the answer is no. The eclipse is on Wednesday 12 August. We are not going to quote delivery windows we cannot verify, and three days out is exactly when stock and shipping estimates stop being reliable.

Two things improve your odds without a delivery gamble:

• Buy in person if you can. Museum and observatory shops and specialist astronomy retailers are the physical version of the same “seller you can identify” rule.
• Ask around. The RAS explicitly allows borrowing: a pair that has been stored properly and is undamaged is fine, which brings us to the next question.

What about the glasses I kept from last time?

The two UK authorities differ here, and the difference is worth knowing.

• The Royal Astronomical Society says older glasses are usable “only if they have been stored safely and the surfaces haven’t been damaged in any way”, and tells you what to look for: “no tiny holes in the coatings, or wrinkles where the coating may have worn away”.
• The Royal Observatory Greenwich recommends simply buying fresh pairs.

Both are defensible. If you have a pair, hold them up to a bright indoor light and look at the filter itself, not through it at the Sun: any pinhole, scratch, crease or separation of the film and they go in the bin. If you are not confident making that judgement, take Greenwich’s advice.

What if I cannot get any glasses at all?

Then you watch it by projection, which is free, completely safe, and endorsed by both UKHSA and the RAS. You never look at the Sun at all.

• A kitchen colander. Hold it up with your back to the Sun and let it cast its shadow on a wall or a sheet of paper. Every hole projects a small image of the eclipsed Sun.
• Two pieces of card and a pin. Pierce one, hold it up, and let the light fall on the other. The RAS describes exactly this — “two pieces of paper and a pushpin”.
• A leafy tree. The gaps between leaves do the same thing by accident. UKHSA lists this among its recommended methods.

There is also the option of not being outdoors at all: the Royal Observatory Greenwich is running a live stream of the UK partial eclipse.

When exactly do I need to have them?

From about a quarter past six in the evening, and the whole thing is over before half past eight.

The partial phase runs 1 hour 49 minutes and finishes just 22 minutes before the Sun sets. Times shift by a few minutes elsewhere in the UK — Edinburgh peaks at about 19:05.

That timing has a practical consequence that has nothing to do with what you buy. The Sun is low in the west-northwest throughout — at maximum in Edinburgh it is only 13.9° above the horizon. A row of houses, a hedge or a hill in that direction will take the whole event away from you. Choosing where to stand matters at least as much as choosing which glasses to order.

Sources

Checked on 9 August 2026. No prices, stock levels or delivery times are quoted, because none of those could be verified.