French skies mostly clear for Friday's lunar eclipse

The skies across most of France are set to be mostly clear for Friday's lunar eclipse.

National forecaster Meteo France forecasts clear skies in the east, with patchy light cloud over much of the rest of the country allowing eclipse watchers to get a good view of the celestial event, in which the moon will turn blood red.

However, storms in northwestern areas and thicker cloud along the western half of the Pyrenees could block the view for anyone trying to catch a glimpse in those regions.

Which is a shame, as it means some people could miss the longest lunar eclipse of the 21st century, when the Earth casts its shadow over the moon. The front edge of the Earth's shadow will begin shading the moon from about 9.30pm. The total eclipse will last 103 minutes, and will peak at around 10.20pm. The moon will finally escape Earth's shadow at about 12.20am on Saturday.

Coincidentally, Mars will be the closest it has been to Earth in 15 years on the same night.