When is the Lyrid Meteor shower? Here’s how to see it this month

A meteor shower will streak across the skies over Britain later this month, with shooting stars visible to the naked eye, peaking on April 22.

This year’s display will see little interference from the moon, so it could be impressive, with viewers seeing up to 10 shooting stars per hour.

The annual display is caused by the Earth passing through a cloud of debris from a comet
called C/186 Thatcher.

Chinese astronomers wrote about the Lyrids in 687BC, writing ‘at midnight, stars fell like rain’.

MORE: MEPs say Scotland would be welcome to join the EU

MORE: ‘Chaotic’ Trump administration could start war with North Korea, warns former MI6 boss

The shower will be visible from April 16 to 25, but is expected to peak on April 22, with an intense burst of activity.

Viewers will be able to see the largest number of meteors in the hours before dawn, according to Earth Sky.

According to EarthSky, there could be as many as 10 shooting stars per hour – although in 1982, rates of up to 90 per hour were recorded.

There’s no need to take binoculars or a telescope with you, just find a suitably dark area and hope there’s not too much cloud.

According to Slooh Community Observatory, the meteor shower is ‘typically the first good meteor shower of the year.’

You don’t need to go anywhere special to see it from the UK – just go outside and give your eyes half an hour to get used to the dark.

To see it look for the Big Dipper or The Plough (they’re the same thing, but actually they’re back end of the Great Bear constellation).