Meteor shower with up to 100 shooting stars an hour to appear tonight

A meteor shower with up to 100 shooting stars is set to appear in the sky tonight.

If you're based in the UK, you will be able to look up at the night sky and see what's known as the Lyrid meteor shower. In a nutshell, this means that you have the chance to witness between a dozen and a hundred shooting stars every hour. Sounds pretty magical, right?

In the video below, the NASA chief warns against the dangers of meteors: 

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The Lyrid meteor is an annual event that was first documented around 2,700 years ago, enchanting stargazers on the northern and southern hemispheres. Beginning tonight, it will be available to watch until April 25. However, its peak is expected to take place on April 21 and last into the early hours of April 22.

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The meteor shower is happening because the Earth is currently passing through the trail of an ancient comet orbiting the Sun, and it's this trail that creates the meteors.

The meteors are called Lyrids because of their connection with the Lyra the Harp constellation in the North East, which is where they originally come from. While they are not as bright as other types of meteor showers such as August's Perseid shower, they can produce fireballs, which, as we all know, are incredibly bright.

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Lyrids typically make 10 to 15 visible meteors an hour, however, in darker skies, this can increase to a larger number.

In an interview with Cornwall Live, Exeter Observatory's astronomer John Maclean said: "The Lyrids have been known to surge but again, it is not something we can predict accurately.

"It is the oldest known meteor shower still active and was first observed in 687 BCE. As they come through the atmosphere, the meteors reach speeds of 50kms a second, but most will turn up before reaching the surface of Earth."