A few weeks ago, there was a lot of chat about the ‘blood moon’, a once-in-a-decade lunar eclipse event that, if the weather’s right, is an impressive sight indeed. In typical UK fashion, a grey evening meant that most of us in Britain missed out. Don’t be too disappointed though, because next week you’ll have the chance to yet again catch a rare lunar event: a supermoon.
This isn’t just any old supermoon, it’s the first supermoon of 2025 and coincides with the harvest moon, making it an even less common phenomenon. Spiritually, it’s a significant time, and the ideal time to refocus yourself and prepare for the final months of the year.
The supermoon will appear in our skies next week – here’s everything you need to know to make sure you don’t miss it.
What is a supermoon?
Supermoons are basically just when the full moon appears bigger than usual to the naked eye. This happens because the moon reaches its closest point to the Earth in orbit.
When is the next supermoon in the UK?
The supermoon will occur in the wee small hours of Tuesday 7 October, and it will reach its largest size at precisely 4.48am. That’s pretty late (or early) to be up on a weeknight, but worry not: you’ll be able to see it at almost its peak pretty much right from sunset until sunrise.
The best places to see the supermoon
As always, your best bet for getting a good look at any space-based activity is getting somewhere dark and high up. Give your eyes 20 minutes to acclimatise to the dark, which means not viewing things with artificial light, including any screens for a while. Rubbish weather will limit what you can actually get a glimpse of, so check the forecast before trudging up a hill in the cold.
What is the harvest moon?
The harvest moon refers to the full moon which occurs closest to the Autumn equinox, which was on September 22. The term comes from old farmers, and refers to the fact that at this time of year, the moon rises a few minutes earlier, providing better light and traditionally giving farmers more time to harvest their summer crops.
What is the spiritual meaning of the harvest supermoon?
The harvest moon symbolises abundance and prosperity, because it afforded farmers a more fruitful yield from their fields. In astrology, it’s also seen as a time of balance, given that it revolves around the equinox – when day and night are the same length.
Adding the supermoon into the mix simply heightens the spiritual significance of the harvest moon, so astrologers view it as a unique time to reflect on what you’ve earned in the previous lunar cycle, and create new goals going forward.
When will the UK get a supermoon after October 2025?
If a classically-British sheet of thick grey cloud (literally) rains on your supermoon parade next week, don’t worry. The next will fall the very next month on November 5, meaning it will provide a spectacular backdrop to the bonfires and fireworks of Guy Fawkes night.
Then, the December full moon will also be a supermoon. Three in a row is not uncommon – supermoons tend to cluster because of the orbital path the moon follows.
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