The worm moon is March’s full moon. The next one is full on Monday 22 March 2027 at 10:44am GMT.
What is the March full moon called?
The Worm Moon. In the words of Royal Museums Greenwich: Native Americans called this last full moon of winter the worm moon after the worm trails that would appear in the newly thawed ground.
Watching the worm moon from the UK
The last full moon of winter, and in 2026 it carries a total lunar eclipse that this country does not get to see. NASA puts greatest eclipse at 11:34 UT on 3 March and lists the regions as eastern Asia, Australia, the Pacific and the Americas: from the UK the Moon is below the horizon while all of it happens, and what rises here that evening is a full moon.
March is the handover month. The clocks have not gone forward yet at the start of it, so a full moon still arrives in proper darkness, and the Moon is beginning its slide down towards the summer path. It is a good month to notice that the full moon rises in the east as the Sun sets in the west, because the two happen close enough together to watch both.
How high the worm moon climbs
From Greenwich on the night of 21 to 22 March 2027, 6 of 2027’s full moons climb higher than the worm moon and 5 stay lower.
| Worm Moon rises | 5:26pm, east |
|---|---|
| Worm Moon at its highest | 11:40pm, 37° up, due south |
| Worm Moon sets | 5:36am, west |
| Time above the horizon | 12 hours for the Worm Moon |
| Sun at 11:40pm | 38° below the horizon |
Also in the March sky
The spring equinox falls around 20 March, after which the nights shorten fast. Leo climbs out of the east during March evenings, and the Plough stands almost overhead late at night.
For March’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 worm moon
That an eclipse in the calendar is an eclipse you can watch. March 2026 is the case in point: it is a total lunar eclipse, umbral magnitude 1.151, and it is over before the Moon rises here. The partial eclipse on 28 August is the one to plan around, because NASA lists Europe among the regions that see it.
Worm Moon dates, London time
- 2026: Tuesday 3 March 2026 at 11:38am (GMT), with a total lunar eclipse that cannot be seen from the UK
- 2027: Monday 22 March 2027 at 10:44am (GMT)
The 2026 worm moon time is from NASA and the Royal Observatory; 2027 is NASA only until the Observatory publishes.
In 2027 the worm moon falls on Monday 22 March 2027. Why named full moons drift.
The worm moon in the sequence
In 2026 the worm moon is the third of 13 full moons. It comes after the Snow Moon (Sunday 1 February 2026), and the Pink Moon follows it on Thursday 2 April 2026. On the nights either side of the worm 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, worm moon or not: how to tell an accurate moon phase print.
Written by Craig Fearn, Aphelion Prints. Last updated .
