Full Moon December 2026: The Cold Moon

The December 2026 full Moon, the Cold Moon, is on Thursday 24 December 2026 at 01:28 GMT. It rises at about 16:10 in London, 16:10 in Birmingham and 15:45 in Edinburgh that evening, and looks full to the eye the night before and the night after. It is a supermoon, about 356,763 km away, so it looks slightly larger and brighter than average. For the one coming up next, whatever the month, see when is the next full moon.

Why is the December full Moon called the Cold Moon?

The Cold Moon is named for the long, cold nights of early winter. The names are folklore rather than astronomy: most come from the Algonquian peoples of north-eastern North America, were adopted by colonial settlers and were popularised by the Maine Farmers' Almanac from the 1930s onwards. Our full moon names guide covers all twelve and the blue moons and supermoons that sometimes join them.

Full moon December dates: 2026 to 2028

The Moon takes 29.5 days to go from one full Moon to the next, so each year's December full Moon falls about 11 days earlier than the year before, then jumps forward again once a thirteenth full Moon has squeezed in.

The December full Moon in the UK sky

December's full Moon is the highest and longest-lasting of the year, up for about 16 hours. The Geminid meteor shower peaks on 13 to 14 December and the Ursids on 22 to 23 December, so the Moon's date decides whether those showers are worth going out for. For what else is up this week, see the UK night sky this week, and check cloud for your postcode with our stargazing tonight tool before you go out.

Is the December 2026 full Moon a supermoon?

Yes. At the moment it is full the Moon is about 356,763 km from Earth, inside the nearest tenth of the Moon's distance range (closer than about 361,500 km), the rule this site uses. A supermoon looks about 7% wider and 15% brighter than an average full Moon, which is real but hard to notice without a photo to compare. Distances come from the same lunar calculation as the dates above; a supermoon is a matter of definition, not a different kind of Moon.

How to see and photograph the Cold Moon

• Watch it rise. Face east ten minutes before the moonrise time above, with a low horizon. Near the horizon the Moon looks enormous (the Moon illusion) and often deep orange.
• Look the night before or after if you want detail: at full the Moon is flat and shadowless, but a day either side the terminator returns and craters along it throw long shadows. Our Moon page says what to look for.
• Photograph it with a phone on a tripod or any camera: a moonrise over a landscape is the easiest astrophoto there is. Settings are in our guide to photographing the Moon.
• Save the faint stuff for new Moon. A full Moon washes out the Milky Way, galaxies and all but the brightest meteor showers; the darkest week of the month is around the new Moon, listed on our moon phase tonight page.

Kit for a full Moon night

Kit we've reviewed in full

No equipment needed for the Moon itself, but binoculars turn the bright disc into a landscape and a moon filter makes a telescope view comfortable. See our best binoculars for stargazing for more.

Best binoculars for the Moon

Helios Stellar-II 10×50

★★★★★★★★★★4.8

Sharp 10×50s that show the dark seas, the bright southern highlands and Tycho's rays, the features that stand out best around full Moon.

~£149

See price at FLO In stock at FLO Full review

First telescope

Sky-Watcher Heritage 130P

★★★★★★★★★★4.6

At 65× the Moon fills the eyepiece. The nights just before and after full, when the shadows are back, are when it looks its best.

~£194

See price at FLO In stock at FLO Full review

Tame the glare

Astro Essentials ND96 Moon Filter

★★★★★★★★★★4.8

Screws onto any 1.25-inch eyepiece and cuts the dazzle of a bright Moon so the detail comes through.

~£11

See price at FLO In stock at FLO Full review

How to photograph the Moon

Honest, research-based recommendations for every budget.

Browse all →

Affiliate links: you pay the same price, we earn a small commission that helps keep WatchTheStars free.