Rare supermoon to appear next week will be biggest in 70 years

The full moon will appear bigger and brighter than usual next week Credit: PA

A rare supermoon is set to light up the sky next week when it moves closer to the Earth than at any time in almost 70 years.

It will appear around 30 per cent brighter and 14 per cent bigger than an average full moon.

The spectacular lunar event will take place on 14 November – and will not come again until November 2034, according to Nasa.

Sky-gazers hoping to catch a glimpse of the supermoon should get ready for 4.45pm as this is when it will be nearer to the horizon.

Astronomer Tom Kerss, from the Royal Observatory Greenwich, told ITV News: "It will be visible from all over the UK, as long as the weather is favourable.

"The Full Moon rises early and sets late, and will be visible throughout both nights, so if the weather in the evening is poor, but the forecast is better after midnight, set an alarm and go out to see it in the morning before sunrise."

Want to get a good view? The Society for Popular Astronomy gives its top tips:

  • Find a high point to watch from, preferably a hilltop in a park

  • Look to the east - the moon will rise in this direction at 4.45pm or slightly after

  • It will look most striking against a horizon of buildings - this will show its scale

  • Don't worry if it's a little cloudy or misty - this can make it look even more spectacular

  • The supermoon will look its biggest earlier in the evening as this is when it is nearer to the horizon

A perigee full moon behind the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany, in 2015 Credit: PA

Robin Scagell, vice-president of the Society for Popular Astronomy, told ITV News: "The so-called supermoon will look its most spectacular when it's seen on a good, low, eastern horizon.

"When you see it above rooftops and trees and chimneys, it will look its biggest because you're comparing it to foreground objects.

"It doesn't matter where in the country you are, just get to a nice high view point."

Mr Kerss added: "With a pair of binoculars you can easily make out many large features on the Moon’s brilliant surface, such as dark ancient volcanic seas called maria, and rugged impact craters and mountain ranges.

"With a camera you can capture these features and exaggerate the colours beyond the sensitivity of the human eye to see different minerals across the lunar surface."

The moon will only be a fraction smaller the day after, Mr Scagell added.

When the moon is at "perigee", its shortest distance from the Earth, it is 226,000 miles away.

It will be the brightest and largest of three "supermoons" to occur in 2016.

The first came on October 16 with the third due on December 14.