THE biggest, brightest full moon for nearly 20 years will climb into the starlit sky tonight, and scaremongers say werewolves should be the least of our worries.

Dubbed a ‘super moon’ by astrologers, the satellite will be particularly luminous tonight because it will be closer to our planet than at anytime in the last 18 years.

The phenomenon will occur thanks to the moon’s oval shaped orbit, which brings our ghostly neighbour to within 212,000 miles of Earth at its closest point (the perigee) and 254,000 miles at its farthest point (the apogee).

“It’s going to look about 14 per cent bigger,” says Greg Parker of the New Forest Observatory.

“It won’t look much difference to the naked eye.”

Greg is a retired professor of Physics from the University of Southampton and tonight he will have his camera ready to capture this so-called super moon. “The best time to take photos will be when it is near the horizon,” he says.

“It will look bigger then.”

While astronomers and photographers will be rubbing their hands at the prospect of tonight’s super moon, for the more conspiracy minded amongst us it is not a welcome spectacle.

Astrology blogs are awash with scaremongers, warning the lunar phenomenon could cause devastating tidal waves, freak weather and even earthquakes – although given recent events in Japan, it seems unlikely the moon could inflict much worse.

While scientists admit the moon’s gravitational pull will be approximately 10-15 per cent stronger this weekend, they claim there is no evidence to suggest a super moon could cause tectonic activity or freak weather conditions.

“In most places, lunar gravity at perigee pulls tide waters only a few centimetres higher than usual,” reassures Dr Phillips of NASA.

“Local geography can amplify the effect to about 15 centimetres – not exactly a great flood.”

But could the super moon have an effect on our behaviour, which for many years has been linked to the phases of the moon?

The effects of madness, in particular, were thought to manifest themselves when the moon was full; hence the word ‘lunatic’ comes from the Latin word for moon (luna).

Statistics obtained from Dorset Police reveal anti-social activity is higher around a full moon, a sentiment that is echoed by Sinead McGuinness, a radiographer at Poole Hospital.

“The throughput at A&E is certainly higher on a full moon,” she told the Echo.

“It’s a notoriously busy night with more police activity; I have noticed some very peculiar cases, as well as higher aggression rates.”

Meanwhile, figures from Bournemouth Hospital suggest twice as many babies are born on a full moon compared to the week before – so if you’re about to give birth, tonight’s super moon might just speed things along.