Hotel prices have surged in European cities expected to enjoy the best views of Wednesday’s solar eclipse.

Hundreds of thousands of tourists have flocked to European destinations expected to offer some of the best viewing conditions – and businesses have responded.

Greenland, Iceland and Spain fall into the “path of totality” – a narrow corridor where the moon blocks the sun completely – attracting amateur and professional astronomers.

Room prices in the Icelandic capital of Reykjavik have surged by 98 per cent according to data shared with The Independent from the travel and hospitality data group, Lighthouse Intelligence, with tourists paying £587 on average for a room on 12 August.

In Spain, nearly half of million overseas visitors are expected to visit for the specific purpose of viewing the astronomical event, according to the finance ministry. Totality will last up to two minutes and 18 seconds.

Here, a room in A Coruña was up by 135 per cent compared to last year at $451 (£334) on average, while Bilbao and Santiago de Compostela have seen price increases of 67 per cent and 34 per cent respectively.

In Mallorca, prices had risen by 24 per cent to $448 (£332).

Closer to home, the best destinations to look skyward are in the southwest of England, specifically in Devon and Cornwall, and the westernmost parts of Pembrokeshire in Wales. Wednesday’s event marks the fullest solar eclipse for the next 50 years in the UK, with over 90 per cent of the sun obscured by the moon at its peak.

A partial eclipse will also be visible in countries including parts of the United States, Canada, Senegal, Morocco, Germany, Poland and the UK and Ireland.

Next year, on 2 August 2027, another total solar eclipse will be visible across southern Spain, North Africa and the Middle East. The US National Solar Observatory (NSO) said the 2027 solar eclipse will cross Spain, Gibraltar, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Somalia, as well as the Atlantic and Indian oceans.

“Cities under the path of totality include Cádiz, Spain, Tangiers, Morocco, Gibraltar, Benghazi, Libya, Luxor, Egypt, and Jeddah, Saudi Arabia”, it added.

Totality for the 2027 solar eclipse is expected to last for six and a half minutes.