Stargazers are likely to be disappointed when they crawl out of bed hoping to see the last total lunar eclipse in Britain for seven years tomorrow morning. The event, which will take place in the early hours, will be obscured by cloud and fog settling over much of the country.

The start of the full eclipse will be signalled by the moon turning blood red, and it will be the last that space enthusiasts will have a chance of seeing from Britain until 2015. Although some regions will enjoy clear skies, widespread cloud and fog will hide the eclipse from millions of people.

Met Office forecasters said the best places to watch the eclipse would be in North West England, the Pennines, North Wales, Somerset and Dorset. Cloud is forecast for the whole of Scotland but observers stand a reasonable chance of getting a good view in the east.

Areas where there is little chance of seeing the eclipse include East Anglia, the Midlands, the Welsh borders and Western Scotland.

Lunar eclipses occur when the earth is directly between the moon and the sun. Although another complete eclipse will not be visible from Britain until 2015, in 2010 there will be one that is cut short by the moon setting.

At 12.37am the moon will start to fall under the earth’s pale, outer shadow, the penumbra, and at 1.43am it will start to be covered by the darker, inner shadow, the umbra. Total eclipse will have been achieved at 3.01am and it will last for 50 minutes until the moon starts moving out from the cover of the umbra.

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