Cold Moon: Last full moon of 2022 will peak on Thursday morning

The last full moon of 2022 - known as a Cold Moon - will appear just as temperatures plummet below freezing.

The aptly-named December full moon is set to peak on Thursday morning as the country braces itself for an ice spell that has prompted a level three amber warning for severe cold weather.

A full moon appears around every 29.5 days in the UK. Each event is given its own distinctive name as a way of keeping track of the seasons.

December's Cold Moon could not have come at a more appropriate time as England enters what is likely to be one of the chilliest spells of 2022, bringing frost, wintry showers and lows of -10C in some isolated areas.

A full moon occurs when the moon appears as a complete circle in the sky and we see it as a full orb, says the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, because the whole of the side of the moon facing the Earth is lit up by the sun's rays.

Because the moon produces no visible light of its own we can only see the parts of it which are lit by other objects. Alongside a small amount of light from distant stars and the reflection of light from Earth, the main source of its light is the sun.

This week's Cold Moon is expected to peak on Thursday morning at 4.08am. But it should be - weather conditions depending - visible either side of the peak, so stargazers keen to catch sight of itn should be on the lookout any time from Wednesday night until about 7am on Thursday.

The next full moon - the first of 2023 - will take place on Friday January 6.

England's level three cold weather alert remains in place until 9am on Monday (December 12).