UpToWhereWill terrain block the 2026 eclipse from your spot?
The total eclipse crosses Spain with the Sun only 1–12° above the west-northwest horizon, so a single ridge can delete it. Search a village, a mirador, a peak or a pass, paste coordinates, or click anywhere on the band or the ground just outside it, and this map tells you whether the eclipsed Sun clears your own skyline — computed cell by cell on 30 m elevation data.
Find your own spot
A real map of the whole path, and of the ground half a band width beyond each edge: pan and zoom to your village, your pass, your beach. Green means the eclipsed Sun clears the skyline from there; red means a ridge is in the way. The two lines mark where totality ends; the same colours continue outside them, for a partial eclipse. Click anywhere for the numbers and a link into the calculator.
“Totality lasts” is how long the Sun stays completely covered where you clicked. It depends on how close you are to the centre of the band, not on your skyline, so a spot can have a clear horizon and still get only half a minute. We model the Moon as a perfect disc, so these run a few seconds long against official figures, and under about half a minute they are approximate.
Each cell is about 30 m of ground, which is the terrain model itself; zoom past that and the map smooths between cells rather than inventing detail it does not have. In towns the model includes buildings, so a street-level reading can look pessimistic; click through to the calculator to settle a specific spot.
What green and red mean
Green is ground where the eclipsed Sun sits above the terrain horizon at mid-totality. Red is ground where a ridge is in the way. Two lines mark the edges of the path of totality. The map keeps going for half a band width past each edge, in the same colours: same verdict, but for a partial eclipse, with the Sun still 98% covered or more.
How precise it is
Each cell is about 30 m of ground, from Copernicus GLO-30 elevation, with Earth’s curvature and atmospheric refraction applied along every sightline. In towns the model includes buildings, so a street-level reading can look pessimistic.
If it says you are blocked
Usually you do not have to go far: 56% of blocked ground has clear ground within 100 metres, and 88% within 400. Walk to the end of the street, or the edge of the village, and check again.
Questions
What is an eclipse horizon checker?
A tool that answers whether terrain — a mountain, a ridge, a hillside — will hide the eclipsed Sun from a specific spot. It matters for the 12 August 2026 eclipse because totality happens with the Sun almost on the horizon over Spain, between about 1° and 12° up, so an obstacle only needs to rise about 140 metres per kilometre of distance to block it.
How do I check my exact location?
Search the box above for a village, a mirador, a peak or a mountain pass. It covers named viewpoints, not just settlements. You can also paste coordinates straight from your phone, or click any point on the map. The popup gives the Sun’s altitude, the time of mid-totality and how far the Sun sits above the ridge, in degrees: positive means the eclipsed Sun clears your skyline, negative means terrain takes it. For a full 360° horizon profile from an exact coordinate, open the point in the UpToWhere calculator.
Is this the same as a cloud forecast?
No, and you need both. Cloud forecasts tell you whether the sky will be clear; this tells you whether the ground is in the way, which is fixed and knowable today. About 28% of the land inside the Spanish path of totality cannot see the eclipsed Sun because of terrain, regardless of the weather.
Will this work for the 2027 and 2028 eclipses too?
Yes. Spain gets another total solar eclipse on 2 August 2027 and an annular one on 26 January 2028, both again with the Sun low over the horizon, so terrain will decide the view again. This page will be updated for each one with the same engine. Bookmark it.