Super-bright meteor spotted over England and Scotland

More than 250 people reported seeing the space rock hurtling across the night sky

A bright meteor was spotted flying over parts of England and Scotland on Saturday evening. Photo: Andrew Morl / Grassholme Observatory

The UK Fireball Network said it was travelling at fast speeds of 31.7 kilometres per second. Photo: UK Fireball Network

Meteors are pieces of debris from space that burn up in Earth’s atmosphere, causing a bright streak across the skies and appearing as ‘shooting stars’. Photo: UK Fireball Network

Many Twitter users also reported seeing the space rock, which flew across the sky for about six seconds. Photo: UK Fireball Network

A bright meteor was spotted over parts of England and Scotland on Saturday evening.

More than 250 people across the UK reported sightings of the space rock to the International Meteor Organisation.

It was classified as a fireball because of its brightness. The UK Fireball Network said it was travelling at fast speeds of 31.7 kilometres per second.

“Last night’s fireball seen over Scotland and England was a meteoroid from the outer main asteroid belt,” the network said on Twitter.

“It was unusual as its orbit took it past Mercury, which explains why it came in so fast. Sadly, no meteorites survived, it burnt up 38km up.”

Meteors are pieces of debris from space that burn up in Earth’s atmosphere, causing a bright streak across the skies and appearing as "shooting stars".

Many Twitter users also reported seeing the space rock, which flew across the sky for about six seconds.

“I saw it in Banstead. Absolutely incredible – bright ball with a glowing green front edge and long white tail. Couldn't believe what I was seeing!” said Twitter user Janie Walker.

Una Hogan, posted on the messaging site to say: “Saw this blue-tailed fireball on our way from Glasgow to Edinburgh this evening. Looked like it was right in front of us! Spectacular!”

“Seen this in Bristol, thought I was imagining it. It was spectacular,” Samantha Huggins said on Twitter.

Last year, a rare meteorite was recovered from a driveway in Gloucestershire. Hundreds of people across the UK had reported its sighting.

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