It’s a “rotten day” for a solar eclipse – but there’s still hope for anyone hoping to catch a glimpse of the phenomenon in Ireland.

Ireland and the UK will this evening experience a partial solar eclipse as the moon passes in front of the sun for a time.

Up to 55% of the sun’s diameter will be covered during the phenomenon – with people in the west of the country likely to get the best views.

The event is due to begin at around 7:55pm as the sun is preparing to set and anyone hoping to get a glimpse is urged to find themselves a viewpoint with an unobstructed view of the western horizon.

Unfortunately, according to Blackrock Castle Observatory’s Frances McCarthy, today's clouds mean it’s not ideal eclipse-spotting weather.

“What a rotten day this turned out to be,” she told Newstalk Breakfast.

“What we can hope is, we’re going to be outside, we're going to be ready.

“We're going to know where the sun is setting because this is a partial solar eclipse as the sun is going down - so we’re going to plan to see it and hope the plan succeeds.”

Ms McCarthy said there’s every chance the clouds might move at just the right time tonight.

She recalled another time when it seemed unlikely Ireland was going to witness a partial solar eclipse.

“In 2015, I was running around Blackrock Castle and the clouds just cleared enough for us to catch a little bit of a partial eclipse,” she said.

“That can happen, when there's light clouds, we can see it.”

Partial eclipse of the west

Die-hard astronomy fans can increase their chance of catching the eclipse by heading as far west as possible.

“The further west you are, the better it will be,” she said. “Belmullet is nearly at 40% coverage.

“I’m sorry to people on the east coast - you're looking at the smallest sliver of the moon covering up a little bit of the sun.

“I'm so jealous of my sister who is getting on a train in Toronto to go around the lake, because it is a total solar eclipse across most of America.”

The unlucky Irish aren’t so unlucky though, as staring at a solar eclipse for too long can result in retina damage.

“You're not going to go blind but you can damage little parts of the retina,” Ms McCarthy said.

Ms Mc Carthy previously told Newstalk the safest way to watch the eclipse is through a pinhole projector or a box projector – which you can learn how to build here.

You can also use ISO-compliant solar filter/solar eclipse glasses - although you must remember not to watch through a camera or through binoculars or telescopes even while wearing the glasses.

The next total solar eclipse visible from Ireland is due in 2090, while the last one took place in 1794.

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