A rare ‘blood moon’ was visible across the world on Tuesday, with pictures capturing the red hue at famous locations.

During a total lunar eclipse, Earth lines up between the moon and the sun, hiding the moon from sunlight.

As a result, the moon turns a deep, dark red as the limited light that escapes is refracted – hence the ‘blood moon’ title.

It came as UK skygazers prepared for the ‘worm moon’, the first full moon of spring, which will be visible to UK skygazers in large parts of the country on Tuesday night.

Most visible from Scotland, Northern Ireland and northern England, the second full moon of the year will be less clear in the cloudier south.

But it will lose its red colour in UK skies after the eclipse peaked at around 11.30am.

Dr Ed Bloomer, senior astronomer at the Royal Observatory Greenwich, said the UK would not get to see the eclipse.

‘It’s below the horizon for us. You get to see the Moon tonight, but you miss the bit where it reddens,’ he said.

The blood moon could be seen near the Transamerica Pyramid in San Francisco on Tuesday

The lunar eclipse was also seen as worshippers celebrated Makha Bucha at Wat Dhammakaya Buddhist temple in Pathum Thani province, north of Bangkok, Thailand

The reddish moon was visible in the skies over Inya Lake bank in Yangon, Myanmar

Ankara, Turkiye, saw the blood moon, which takes on a red hue as it goes through an eclipse

The full moon could also be seen from Karachi, Pakistan

The blood moon also made an appearance above the 2027 Women’s World Cup qualifying match between Israel and Belgium in Hungary

The blood moon rose over the Mediterranean sea where a ship was anchored in Limassol, Cyprus

Abu Dhabi also saw the blood moon after a weekend of retaliatory attacks from Iran

The moon was passing through the Earth’s shadow during the total lunar eclipse, seen from Colima, Mexico

Beyond the High Roller ride in Las Vegas, the blood moon made an appearance

The blood moon crept past the 123-storey Lotte World Tower in Seoul, South Korea, as communities celebrated the day of ‘Jeongwol Daeboreum’, marking the first full moon of the year

The blood moon rose over the Northwest Corner Tower of the Forbidden City in Beijing, China, during the total lunar eclipse

Keen moon-watchers waited for shots of the blood moon in Oklahoma, USA

Dr Bloomer added the worm moon was thought to take its name from worms who escape from the soil to mate during the spring.

He said the blood moon was caused by Earth acting ‘a little bit like a prism’ where ‘most light gets blocked out’ by the eclipse, while the light that can escape is refracted.

Dan Suri, chief operational meteorologist at the Met Office, said: ‘This evening, skies will be clearest across Scotland, Northern Ireland and northern England.

‘There will be some, albeit less extensive and less reliable, clear skies over parts of southern England.

‘In between, conditions will be cloudier, with some of this cloud spreading into Northern Ireland, northern England and southern and western Scotland during the early hours of Wednesday.’

The Royal Observatory Greenwich said the next partial lunar eclipse will be in August this year.

Unlike a solar eclipse, it is safe to look at directly as the moon’s reflected light is not as bright as the sun’s.

WHAT IS A LUNAR ECLIPSE?

An eclipse occurs any time a planet or moon passes between another planet, moon or the sun.

Depending on their orbits, they can be total or partial.

A lunar eclipse is a specific event which happens when Earth lines up directly between the sun and the moon.

When this happens, Earth blocks the light from the sun to the moon. Earth’s shadow then falls on the moon.

During a lunar eclipse, we can see Earth’s shadow on the moon.

They can last for several hours, but it is rare for a period of total eclipse to last longer than 100 minutes.  

At least two lunar eclipses happen every year.

The moon will also be slightly closer to the Earth, causing it to appear brighter than usual, dubbed a Super Moon. These unique factors, when combined, result in a ‘Super Blood Wolf Moon’. This graphic shows how a lunar eclipse occurs