Cloudflare Radar data shows a clear, measurable dip in HTTP traffic across Europe during the total solar eclipse of August 12, 2026, which crossed Iceland, Spain, and Portugal along its path of totality. Traffic drops aligned precisely with each region's moment of maximum obscuration, with countries in the path of totality seeing declines of roughly 15% to 30%, while regions with only a shallow partial eclipse saw little to no change. Iceland, Spain, and Portugal recorded the steepest drops (up to 46.7% below baseline), while Norway and Sweden saw slight traffic increases and Denmark showed the least change. Traffic rebounded within minutes as the eclipse passed, illustrating how a shared physical event can temporarily reshape digital activity across a continent.
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How much did internet traffic drop during the 2026 European solar eclipse in countries along the path of totality?
Traffic fell by roughly 15% to 30% versus baseline in regions along the path of totality, with Iceland, Spain, and Portugal seeing the steepest declines, ranging as low as 46.7% below normal levels. The drops aligned precisely with each region's moment of maximum obscuration and traffic rebounded within minutes as the eclipse passed, based on Cloudflare Radar HTTP request data. Anyone tracking how real-world events ripple through network traffic can explore live data trends on daily.dev.
Did every country see a drop in internet traffic during the August 2026 solar eclipse?
No, the impact varied by depth of eclipse coverage. Countries with deep partial or total eclipse coverage like Iceland, Ireland, the UK, France, Spain, and Portugal saw significant traffic drops, while Sweden, Denmark, Poland, and Switzerland where the sun was barely obscured saw little to no change; Norway and Sweden actually recorded slight traffic increases above baseline. Engineers curious how regional events shape traffic patterns can follow such analyses on daily.dev.