Where the sky is most likely to be clear on 2 August 2027
This is the good news about the 2027 eclipse. It falls at the start of August, along a path that runs through some of the driest and most reliably sunny places on Earth in that month. Cloud is a real risk almost nowhere on this track, and in Egypt it is barely a risk at all.
That is a very different situation from the 2026 eclipse, which happened at sunset over northern Spain in a month when Atlantic coastal cloud was a genuine concern.
Upper Egypt in August is essentially cloudless
Andalusia in early August is dry, with local exceptions
Plan for temperature, not for rain
Early August in Andalusia is the driest part of the year. Rain in the first week of August is rare, and full overcast is rarer still. The realistic risks are local and specific:
On balance the odds in Andalusia are good, in the region of eight or nine mornings in ten clear enough. Inland spots such as Ronda, Medina Sidonia and Arcos are generally a little less prone to marine cloud than the coast.
Northern Morocco in August is hot and dry. The Mediterranean side around Tetouan, Chefchaouen and Al Hoceima is very reliable. The Atlantic side around Larache and Asilah can get the same morning marine layer as the Spanish coast opposite, and the same levante effects apply in the Strait.
The north coast is dry in August. Inland, on the high plateau and in the Aurès around Timgad, Batna and Biskra, cloud is very unlikely and the air is often exceptionally clear. This is one of the better bets on the whole path. It is also brutally hot inland.
August is the driest month. Sfax, Kerkennah, El Djem and Djerba all have excellent prospects, with a small chance of coastal haze. Inland at Sbeitla the air is drier still.
Upper Egypt in August is about as close to guaranteed sunshine as anywhere on the planet. Measurable rainfall at Luxor is a once in several years event. Cloud cover statistics for early August are effectively zero. The only atmospheric factor worth thinking about is dust, and even that is usually a spring phenomenon.
The Red Sea coast around Hurghada and Marsa Alam is similarly reliable, with occasional high thin cloud.
Across this path you should plan for temperature rather than precipitation. Seville and Córdoba routinely pass 40 degrees in early August. Timgad and Biskra will be above 35 by mid morning. Luxor averages around 41 and regularly exceeds 45, and there the eclipse happens at one in the afternoon with the sun almost overhead. Shade, water and timing matter far more than a rain jacket. See safety and health.
Useful sources are the national meteorological services: AEMET in Spain, the Direction de la Météorologie Nationale in Morocco, the ONM in Algeria, the INM in Tunisia and the EMA in Egypt. Satellite imagery from EUMETSAT covers the whole path.
If you are within the path in Spain, the practical mobility play is east to west along the coast, or a short move inland to higher ground away from the marine layer. Cádiz to Tarifa is an hour and gets you a different local weather regime as well as more totality. Gibraltar to Tarifa moves you away from the cap cloud that forms on the Rock in a levante.
If you are in Egypt, you do not need a plan B.