Perseid meteor shower: How to watch in the UK, peak times and date explained

12 August 2024, 16:22

By Alice Dear

Will there be a Perseid meteor shower tonight in the UK? What time and date is the Perseid meteor shower 2024? How can I see the meteor shower? All your questions, answered.

The Perseid meteor shower of 2024 is set to peak between Monday, 12th August, and Tuesday, 13th August, in the UK with as many as 100 shooting stars visible every hour.

People who wish to see the celestial spectacle are being encouraged to look to the skies on Monday night for the best chance to see the meteor shower, with experts predicting "bright fast meteors with trains".

While the meteors will be travelling at 36 miles per second, there's still a good chance to spot some of the "shooting stars" in the sky, especially if you're located in an area with minimal light pollution.

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From the best date and time to look for the Perseid meteor shower and tips for making sure you see the spectacle, here's everything you need to know.

Is there a Perseid meteor shower tonight?

Yes, the Perseid meteor shower is set to peak between 12th and 13th August, meaning tonight is the perfect time to look out to the skies for shooting stars.

The Perseid meteor shower has actually been active since 17th July and will remain so until 24th August, however the peak is happening across Monday and Tuesday this week.

According to Royal Greenwich Observatory , there could be up to 100 shooting stars in one hour with "many bright fast meteors with trains" travelling at around 36 miles per second.

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What time is the Perseid meteor shower?

According to experts, the best time to look to the skies to watch the Perseid meteor shower is between midnight on 12th August and 5:30am on 13th August.

However, it has also been reported that there could be sightings from as early as sunset, which is expected to be 8:28PM tonight.

At around 10:30pm tonight the moon will set below the horizon, meaning light pollution will dip and the meteors will be more visible.

How can I see the Perseid meteor shower?

The likelihood of seeing the Perseid meteor shower tonight depends on two things; your location and the weather.

People stargazing from the countryside with little light pollution are much more likely to see the shooting stars, while those surrounded by bright lights - like cities - may struggle to spot them more clearly.

So, what's the weather expected to be like tonight? A Met Office spokesperson said: "Cloud will increase from the west overnight but it will be a slow process and it’s not really until after midnight that cloud cover readily increases across western areas. So much of the country will have a good opportunity to view a cloud free sky."

If you are really keen to see the meteor shower, experts recommend that you go outside at night and head to a dark area away from street lights. You should avoid using your phone and take 30 minutes to adjust to the darkness.

For the best idea of the direction the Perseid meteor shower will come from, we suggest downloading a stargazing app and looking the Perseus constellation.

What is a meteor shower?

According to the experts at the Royal Greenwich Observatory, a meteor is a "small piece of interplanetary matter entering the Earth's atmosphere and 'burning up' at a height of about 100km."

They add that when the Earth encounters a number of these meteors at once, we call them 'meteor showers' - specific clouds of debris that originate from particular sources.