The most dramatic solar eclipse for 16 years will take place in Birmingham during the morning of March 20, blocking 90% of the sun’s light and plunging the city into darkness.

Around 90 per cent of sunlight will be blocked out when the moon’s orbit takes it right in front of the sun on the morning of March 20 at around 08:25 am. It will be Europe’s biggest total solar eclipse since the one in August 1999. The next will not be until 2026.

A total eclipse ( with 100 per cent of sunlight vanishing for two and a half minutes ) will be visible only from the Faroe Islands and northern Scandinavia. The rest of the UK will vary from 84 per cent coverage of the sun in London to 94 per cent in Glasgow. Birmingham and the Midlands will see a partial eclipse that blacks out just over 90 per cent of the sun when at its peak.

Never look at the Sun directly even during an eclipse.