Moon phases for December 2014 with times of rising and setting.
Planets
Mercury is too close to the Sun this month for safe observing.
Venus similarly isn't well placed this month but it can be seen during the last week of December low in the south west, setting up to 40 mins after the Sun, a bright mag-3.9 disc. Unmistakable.
Mars will be visible setting more than an hour after the Sun in quite dark skies in the south west all month a small 5arcsec disc of mag 1.1. Little detail will be seen but its colour will be easily discerned.
On the first of December Jupiter will rise at 10:00pm in dark skies, a bright, mag -2.3/40arcsec disc. It will rise to 46° above the southern horizon, the start of a good appearance for this big gas planet. It will fade under pressure from the rising Sun at about 7:30am. Mid-month it will rise at 9:30pm and continue through the night till dawn again. Then at the end of the month it will rise at 8:30pm and be faded out by dawn again at about 7:30am again.
Saturn will rise at 7:15am on the 1st only an hour before the Sun so will not be seen easily in the brightening dawn twilight. On the 15th it will rise at 6:15am in dark skies, but with an hour it will be overtaken by the rising Sun. On the 31st it will rise at 5:15am and again will soon be faded out by the rising Sun. All very low near the horizon so not a good appearance on the stage for the mag 0.6/15arcsec disc.
On the 1st Uranus will be high in the sky as evening twilight turns to dark night, it's small mag 5.8/4arcsec disc close to the half Moon all night. It will set at 2:00am after getting within half a degree of the Moon. Again by the time the sky has darkened Uranus will be high up and will be un accompanied this time so will be more easily seen. It will set at 1:30am. On the 31st it will be high in the sky again as night falls and will set at 12:30am, unchanged is brightness or size.
Neptune will be due south on the 1st as twilight descends to reveal it's tiny mag 7.9/2arcsec disc. It will set at 11:45pm. by the end of the month it will be available from when twilight closes down at about 5:30pm and will set at 9:00pm.
Meteor Showers
Though there are other showers this month all are small compared to the Geminids which are easily the best of the year. They will peak on the 13th, with up to 120/hour if the clouds permit, and the half Moon too. That will be 50° to the east of the radiant in Gemini after 11:00pm.
Comets
The brightest this month and visible from England is C/2014 Borisov, but that rises at 5:00am-ish and is mag 11. So not really easily seen unless by cameras. or reasonably sized telescopes. It will be at the eastern end of Virgo close to the yellow mag 4 star Syrma on the 15th and will be fading to mag 11.5 by the end of the month and getting closer to the murky horizon too.