Abstract: In the actual adaptive optics control system, the time delay causes the mismatch between the correction profile generated by the corrector and the actual wavefront distortion, which leads to correction lag error. Under the atmospheric frozen flow turbulence assumption, a wavefront distortion prediction method based on motion estimation is proposed to compensate for the time delay. The template matching algorithm is used to estimate the atmospheric turbulence motion direction, according to the wavefront restored images of the reference frame and the current frame, and then the current frame is moved to predict the next frame. The prediction method applicability is evaluated, and the influence of backtracking frames on the prediction effect is discussed by comparing the simulation data of different sampling frequencies and different transverse wind speeds. The residual error is calculated with the template matching algorithm and the least recursive squares (RLS) algorithm. The simulation results show that the method performs better when the variation tendency of wavefront restored images is obvious. Therefore, the prediction effect can be maintained better in severe conditions. Finally, the prediction method is verified by using the actual observation data of Sirius, and the algorithm still keeps the prediction effect.