Rain and clouds may spoil lunar eclipse

RAIN clouds and thunderstorms could prevent skygazers from seeing the “blood moon” lunar eclipse tomorrow as forecasters warn of torrential downpours across eastern parts of Great Britain.

The Met Office has issued a thunderstorm warning from tomorrow afternoon that is expected to last until midnight.

The rare celestial event – said to be the longest in the 21st century – will see the moon pass through Earth’s darkest shadow and take on a red sheen.

Moonrise will be at 20.49 BST in London, 21.46 in Glasgow, 21.02 in Cardiff and 21.27 in Belfast, with mid-eclipse occurring at 21.21 and the “total” phase ending at around 22.13.

But torrential downpours are forecast in places, with as much as 30mm expected to fall in just an hour and 60mm in three hours.

Met Office spokesman Grahame Madge said: “It’s quite tricky at the moment to be precise but there is a potential for showers to develop across the eastern half of the UK.

“There may be large areas where the sky is effectively covered by thunder clouds.

“They will move through reasonably quickly but if that coincides with the peak moment of the eclipse, they could obscure the moon.”

The warning area extends from Cambridge and Peterborough up to the Scottish Borders, Mr Madge said, adding that Wales, the south and west of England and most of Northern Ireland should have clear skies.

Although the lunar eclipse is expected to last 103 minutes, observers in the UK and Ireland will not be able to catch the start of the phenomenon as the moon will still be below the horizon.

However, the partial eclipse will be visible for almost four hours.