A lunar eclipse happens when the Earth passes directly between the Sun and the Moon, so the Earth's shadow falls across the Moon. It can only occur at full moon. When the Moon is fully inside the Earth's umbra it doesn't turn black but copper-red — the famous Blood Moon. The colour comes from the only sunlight that reaches the Moon being filtered through Earth's atmosphere, just like at a red sunset. Below are the upcoming lunar eclipses and how well they can be seen from the UK.
The Moon's orbit is tilted about 5° relative to Earth's orbit around the Sun. So the Earth's shadow usually misses the Moon, and a full moon has to fall close to one of the orbit's crossing points for an eclipse to happen. That gives roughly two to four lunar eclipses a year, of which only some are total and visible from the UK.
A lunar eclipse is completely safe to look at — unlike a solar eclipse it needs no protection. You just need to be able to see the Moon. A Blood Moon looks best with the naked eye or binoculars from a spot with a clear view toward where the Moon sits. See the moon today for moonrise and moonset for your location, or the moon calendar to plan ahead.
A Blood Moon is a total lunar eclipse where the whole Moon is inside Earth's umbra and glows copper-red, because the sunlight reaching it is filtered through Earth's atmosphere.
See the list above of upcoming lunar eclipses and how well each one can be seen from the UK.
No. Unlike a solar eclipse, a lunar eclipse is completely safe to watch without any protection.
Visible from the UK in the early morning. Up to 93% of the Moon enters Earth’s umbral shadow around 05:42 BST, with the Moon low in the west near moonset.
Visible from the UK, but very shallow — only about 7% of the Moon is shaded around 04:13 GMT.
A New Year’s Eve Blood Moon. The Moon rises already eclipsed; totality is seen low in the east, with greatest eclipse at 16:52 GMT.
A total eclipse, but hard to see from the UK: the Moon is very low and sets in the bright summer dawn around greatest eclipse (04:22 BST).
The best Blood Moon of the period — the entire eclipse is visible from the UK with the Moon high in the sky, greatest eclipse at 22:42 GMT.
Not visible from the UK — the partial eclipse ends (around 20:46 BST) before the Moon rises.