'Wolf Moon' puts on a show for skygazers

Skygazers were treated to "the biggest and brightest" supermoon of the year as it rose across Britain on New Year's Day.

The Wolf Moon seen from the Mitchell Library, Glasgow, Scotland. (AAP)

The full moon, also known as the Wolf Moon, appeared about 14 per cent bigger and 30 per cent brighter in the sky as it reached its closest point to Earth during orbit.

Described by NASA as "the most super of the three supermoons this winter" that was "the biggest and brightest of 2018", it is the first of the two full moons in January.

The next event, the so-called Blue Moon, is expected to take place on January 31.

According to the US space agency, the second supermoon will feature a total lunar eclipse "with totality viewable from western North America across the pacific to Eastern Asia".

Blue Moons happen every two-and-a-half years on average, so, with the total eclipse, it will be a royal spectacle - a "super blue blood" moon, NASA said.

Supermoons happen when a full moon coincides with the moon's perigee - a point in its orbit at when it is closest to Earth.

The last supermoon occurred on December 3, when the moon was 358,499km from earth.