Another meteor shower is heading for the UK this week – with up to 20 meteors an hour at its peak (and possibly even a fireball)

The UK is set to experience another meteor shower this week, with the Lyrids entering Earth’s orbit. With spring skies offering improved visibility, it’s a great opportunity to step outside after dark and catch a glimpse of this celestial display.

What is a meteor?

A meteor is a small piece of interplanetary matter, which enters the Earth’s atmosphere and move very fast relative to the Earth’s orbit. These small particles are often visible to the naked eye thanks to the light they produce. This is due to the incredible speeds they move at, which cause intense compression of the air in front of them, which then vaporises the rock and ionises the surrounding atmosphere, creating a glowing trail.

What’s a meteor shower?

When the Earth encounters a number of meteors at once, we call it a “meteor shower”. They will be pieces of debris that originate from the same source – a comet.

A “meteor storm” occurs when the Earth passes through an unusually dense part of a comet’s debris cloud. During a meteor storm, you’ll see thousands of meteors per hour – the last major meteor storms took place in 1999, 2001 and 2002.

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What is the Lyrids meteor shower?

The Lyrids meteor shower occurs as Earth’s orbit passes through the debris cloud left behind by comet C/1861 G1 (Thatcher). Comet Thatcher was found in 1861 and takes 417 years to orbit around the Sun.

It’s one of the oldest known meteor showers, having been observed for more than 2,500 years. It’s known for its fast, bright meteors, but unlike other meteor showers, Lyrids don’t tend to leave long dust trains behind them – but they occasionally produce a bright flash called a fireball.

When is the Lyrids meteor shower?

The Lyrids meteor shower is active between 16-25 April 2026, reaching its peak around 22 April. There are estimated to be between 10 and 20 meteors each hour, some appearing with trains.

Top image: The Lyrids annual meteor shower are seen in the night sky over Burg auf Fehmarn on the Baltic Sea island of Fehmarn, northern Germany, 2018 (credit: Daniel Reinhardt/Getty Images)