Winter’s last full moon is set to light up the skies across Britain tonight, with the rise of February’s snow moon.

Stargazers will also be able to glimpse the bright star Regulus near tonight’s full moon.

Full moons are when the moon appears as a circle in the sky, because the full side of the moon facing the Earth is lit up by the sun. They happen when the sun and moon are on opposite sides of Earth.

Full moons occur every 29.5 days, roughly once a month – fun fact, the word ‘month’ comes from the word ‘moon’ – but because our months don’t correspond exactly to the cycle of the moon, there are sometimes two full moons within a month.

The snow moon rises at 17.03 tonight, 12 February, and will remain visible until 07.53 tomorrow (these times are for London, but will vary slightly in the rest of the UK).

The full moon actually peaks at 1.53pm today, but this is before it rises above the horizon, so will not be visible from the UK.

It will also appear full tomorrow, 13 February, and into Valentine’s Day.

Visibility will vary depending on the weather, with cloud and rain forecast in some areas.

Terms such as snow moon have grown in popularity in recent years, but the name simply refers to February’s full moon.

It is no whiter than any other full moon and it’s also sometimes known as the hunger moon.

The names we use for full moons today – such as cold moon, wolf moon and harvest moon – come to us indirectly from Native American traditions.

NASA’s Gordon Johnston wrote: “In the 1930s the Maine Farmer's Almanac began publishing ‘Indian’ names for the full moons, tying these names to the European months.

The term snow moon comes from the traditional name for February’s full moon, when it’s often snowy.

“As the midwinter moon or the second full moon of winter, the Native American tribes of what is now the northern and eastern United States called this the snow moon or the hunger moon," he added.

“It was known as the snow moon because of the heavy snows that fall in this season (NOAA long-term monthly averages for the Washington, DC area show January and February nearly tied as the snowiest months of the year). Bad weather and heavy snows made hunting difficult, so this moon was also called the hunger noon.

The best way to capture a memorable photo of the moon is to capture it framed by something memorable, like the roof of a local landmark or trees.

NASA photographer Bill Ingalls advised: "Don’t make the mistake of photographing the moon by itself with no reference to anything.

:Instead, think of how to make the image creative – that means tying it into some land-based object. It can be a local landmark or anything to give your photo a sense of place."

If you’re using a smartphone camera, consider getting a tripod to get a clear shot.

The next full moon is on the 14 March at 6.55am, and is known as the worm moon.

You can see a full calendar of upcoming moons at the Royal Museums Greenwich website.