Eid al-Fitr 2023: Moon sighting announcements for Saudi Arabia and UK and when confirmed date will be - live updates

Welcome to our Eid al-Fitr 2023 live blog, where we'll be bringing you all the latest news on the Islamic holiday in the UK and the world. Eid al-Fitr marks the end of Ramadan, the ninth month of the Islamic calendar.

Ramadan is the holiest month of the year for Muslims and sees them fast from dawn to dusk for 29 or 30 days. This year Ramadan began the day after the sighting of the crescent moon, which appeared on the evening of March 22 in the UK.

When exactly Eid is celebrated depends on the sighting of the next crescent moon. This means that Muslims have to wait until the night before to find out the exact day celebrations can commence.

If the new moon is visible on the night of day 29 (Thursday) then the next day will be Eid. If not fasting will continue for one more day and Muslims will celebrate Eid after 30 days on Saturday.

Astronomers have forecast that the moon's very first faint crescent won't be visible later today in the UK, Saudi Arabia, or North Africa - which would mean one more day of fasting with Eid starting on Saturday. However, Saudi Arabia's Supreme Court is asking citizens to look for the Eid moon today (Thursday), meaning it's possible officials will accept eyewitnesses' accounts even though it could be very difficult to see without specialist equipment.

Ultimately though, there is no official universal system in the UK. It means some mosques will look for the moon in British skies and some will follow reports from Saudi Arabia and other locations - which means communities across the UK could end up celebrating Eid on different dates. Read more on that here.

For people in Cardiff the moon should be visible on Friday with sunset being at 8.19pm.

Follow our live updates below to keep up with the latest