The snow moon is February’s full moon. The next one is full on Saturday 20 February 2027 at 11:23pm GMT. It coincides with a penumbral lunar eclipse.
What is the February full moon called?
The Snow Moon. In the words of Royal Museums Greenwich: February's typically cold, snowy weather in North America earned its full moon the name snow moon.
It suits the UK as well: February is one of the likeliest months for lying snow here, especially on high ground in the north.
Watching the snow moon from the UK
February is often the clearest month of a British winter, and the Moon is still riding high. If you want one full moon a year to photograph from a UK garden without waiting up, this is a reasonable one to pick.
By February the evenings are lengthening but the Moon is still high, and the air behind a passing cold front is usually the steadiest a British observer gets. Steady air matters more than clear air for detail: it is what decides whether the craters along the terminator hold still in binoculars or swim about. At full moon there is barely any terminator to look at, which is the trade.
How high the snow moon climbs
From Greenwich on the night of 20 to 21 February 2027, 4 of 2027’s full moons climb higher than the snow moon and 7 stay lower.
| Snow Moon rises | 5:02pm, east |
|---|---|
| Snow Moon at its highest | 12:13am, 47° up, due south |
| Snow Moon sets | 7:03am, west |
| Time above the horizon | 14 hours for the Snow Moon |
| Sun at 12:13am | 49° below the horizon |
Also in the February sky
Taurus and Orion are high in the south on February evenings. The Pleiades cluster sits above Taurus and is worth binoculars, though a full moon nearby washes it out; the week before or after is better for it.
For February’s meteor dates and how much the Moon gets in the way, see UK meteor showers and the Moon.
What people get wrong about the snow moon
That the name is British. It is not: the snow moon is named for North American Februaries, like most of these names, and imported wholesale. February in much of the UK is wetter than it is snowy, so the name describes somebody else's weather.
Snow Moon dates, London time
- 2026: Sunday 1 February 2026 at 10:09pm (GMT)
- 2027: Saturday 20 February 2027 at 11:23pm (GMT), with a penumbral lunar eclipse
The 2026 snow moon time is from NASA and the Royal Observatory; 2027 is NASA only until the Observatory publishes.
In 2027 the snow moon falls on Saturday 20 February 2027. Why named full moons drift.
The snow moon in the sequence
In 2026 the snow moon is the second of 13 full moons. It comes after the Wolf Moon (Saturday 3 January 2026), and the Worm Moon follows it on Tuesday 3 March 2026. On the nights either side of the snow moon the Moon isn’t quite full: it’s a waxing, then a waning, gibbous, and the eight phases of the Moon explains both.
Any moon print can be checked the same way, snow moon or not: how to tell an accurate moon phase print.
Written by Craig Fearn, Aphelion Prints. Last updated .
