The cold weather is upon us and appropriately, December’s Full Moon is most commonly known as the ‘Cold Moon’. The Moon will be full at 04.35am on Sunday, 19th December.
Other names that indicate the cold and snow given to this Full Moon are:
- Drift Clearing Moon (Cree),
- Frost Exploding Trees Moon (Cree),
- Moon of the Popping Trees (Oglala),
- Hoar Frost Moon (Cree),
- Snow Moon (Haida, Cherokee),
- Winter Maker Moon (Western Abenaki)
- Moon When the Deer Shed Their Antlers (Dakota)
- Little Spirit Moon (Anishinaabe).
This Full Moon has also been called the Long Night Moon (Mohican), as it rises during the “longest” nights of the year, which are near the December winter solstice.
In Europe, ancient pagans called the December Full Moon the “Moon Before Yule,” in honour of the Yuletide festival celebrating the return of the sun heralded by winter solstice.
Full Moon calendar 2022
| Full Moon date and time | Full Moon name |
|---|---|
| 17th January (11.48pm) | Wolf Moon |
| 16th February (4.56pm) | Snow Moon |
| 18th March (7.18am) | Worm Moon |
| 16th April (7.55pm) | Pink Moon |
| 16th May (05.14am) | Flower Moon (total lunar eclipse) |
| 14th June (12.51pm) | Strawberry Moon |
| 13th July (7.38pm) | Buck Moon |
| 12th August (2.36am) | Sturgeon Moon |
| 10th September (10.59am) | Corn/Harvest Moon |
| 9th October (9.55pm) | Hunter’s Moon |
| 8th November (11.02am) | Beaver Moon |
| 8th December (4.08am) | Cold Moon |
All times show the time of the full Moon at the Royal Observatory’s home in London, either in GMT or BST depending on the time of year. For full details see the 2022 Guide to the Night Sky
