Why haven't I seen the Moon? It has been some time since I've seen the Moon. What are the conditions that might affect whether or not the Moon is visible within a 24-hour period?

Please take into consideration any notable astronomical effects: moon phases, light pollution, other viewing conditions. I want this to be applicable to other cases as well as my own.

Here is my particular case:


  I live in Wales. The date today is October 3, 2016. There has been no moon visible in the sky for the last 5 days, and I don't know why.
According to the NASA page about news and events related to the moon, the start of October, 2016 saw the moon enter a New Moon phase - where it is not visible, as explained on the site:


  the new moon isn't visible, because it's between Earth and the sun, and the unlit side is facing Earth.


The 'unlit side' is often referred to as being the 'dark side' of the moon.

and as shown in the terribly-but-necessarily-not-to-scale diagram below:



Image source and further information: SEMS: Moon Phases

The lunar cycle is roughly 29 days (the approximate time between consecutive new moon cycles as an example).  There are many online 'lunar calendars' are available, such as from Moon Connection.

However, it is just as easy to observe the lunar cycles throughout the nights (weather permitting) - when the lunar cycles are heading towards a 'new moon', then it will appear to be 'waning', 'waxing' refers to the image of the moon 'growing' towards a full moon.  Examples of how the moon would appear is shown in the NASA image below:



(Image from the NASA page linked above) - the cycle progresses anti-clockwise in the diagram.