The full moon will look larger and brighter than usual this evening as it reaches its closest point to the Earth this year.

Forecasters have predicted clear skies for tonight's supermoon which will begin rising in the eastern sky from 6pm. 

The Met Office's chief meteorologist Jason Kelly said: “Pretty much the whole of the UK has a good chance of clear skies this evening.

“Isolated fog patches will form by midnight, with more extensive low cloud and fog forming during the early hours.

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"This will mean a less favourable - but still moderate to high - chance of seeing the moon later in the night.” 

October's full moon - known as the Hunter's Moon - is the third supermoon of the year.

This month's full moon is called the Hunter’s Moon because it occurs when hunters would traditionally have been most active.

While there is no formal scientific definition, a supermoon is said to occur when a full moon is within 90 per cent of its closest point to Earth.

Tonight the moon will be nearly 17,000 miles closer than usual, making it around 14pc brighter and 30pc bigger than other full moons.

As the supermoon rises and sets on the horizon, an optical illusion known as 'moon illusion' makes it appear even larger.