Tonight's full Cold Moon is the last supermoon of 2025 - here's how to get a glimpse

The full Cold Moon will grace the sky tonight.

It is the third consecutive supermoon - October's Harvest Moon was followed by the Beaver Moon in November - and the final one of 2025.

It will be visible in UK skies from around 14:30 GMT on Thursday until about 09:00 on Friday although exact timings vary depending on where you are.

You will need clear skies to see the full Moon and this is not guaranteed, with parts of Northern England and Scotland particularly prone to seeing cloud and rain.

Supermoons are not that rare - there are usually three or four a year - but it is unusual to have three of them in a row.

In fact, this month's is part of a run of four, including the first full Moon of 2026.

They occur because the Moon's orbit around Earth is not perfectly circular but instead slightly elliptical - meaning it is sometimes closer to us than at other times.

When the Moon is in "perigee" - or near its closest point to Earth - and that coincides with a full Moon, fully illuminated by the sun's light, we call it a supermoon.

It means the Moon appears larger and brighter in the night sky.

Moonrise on Thursday is during the afternoon - at 14:13 GMT in Aberdeen, 14:52 in Birmingham, 14:57 in Armagh and 15:07 in Swansea.

The Moon will set again at around 09:00 on Friday so it should be visible throughout the night.

As the Moon rises it will form a triangle with the Pleiades star cluster and the bright star Aldebaran.

Jupiter will appear in the night sky close to the Moon, as well as the winter constellation of Orion the Hunter.

People in some parts of the UK should be able to get a good look at the supermoon but others may not be so lucky.

A band of cloud and rain is expected to move slowly north-eastwards across northern England and Scotland and may linger in some areas until the morning.

However, even a small break in the cloud could be enough to give you a glimpse of the Moon.

This is most likely in northern Scotland early in the evening, while prospects should improve in northern England and southern Scotland during the early hours of Friday.

Northern Ireland and Wales - along with central and southern parts of England - should see clear spells for much of the time.

However, a few shower clouds will obscure the view occasionally and fog patches are likely to form in places.

It will be a fairly cold night with temperatures dropping close to freezing and a touch of frost in places.

Check the full forecast for your local area here.

Tonight also marks the start of the Geminid meteor shower which could mean an extra treat for stargazers - although this will not peak until 14 December.

Each full Moon over the course of a year is given a name - a practice that dates back to ancient traditions, centuries before the Gregorian calendar existed.

Full Moons were historically named as a way of keeping track of the change of seasons and often influenced the timing of activities like hunting, harvesting and planting, where the bright moonlight could come in handy.

December's full Moon is known as the Cold Moon and marks the start of winter as it occurs near the solstice. It has also been known as the Long Night Moon and the Moon before Yule.

The next full Moon, on 3 January 2026 is the Wolf Moon - and will be yet another supermoon.