Perseids meteor shower: stargazers told to head north

Forecasters warn that the British weather will obscure views of Perseids especially in southern and central England
Datablog: Perseids 2009 - full list of meteor showers, where and when
Meteors streak past stars in the night sky near Amman
The Perseid meteor shower is sparked every August when the Earth passes through a stream of space debris left by Comet Swift-Tuttle. Photograph: Ali Jarekji/Reuters

Stargazers should head to the Midlands, the north of England and north-west Scotland for the best views of the annual Perseids meteor shower tonight.

The shower happens as the Earth passes through debris from the Swift-Tuttle comet, with around 80 to 100 meteors an hour raining down as the small particles collide with and burn up in the atmosphere.

But forecasters warn that the British weather risks putting a dampener on the spectacle. Rain and patchy cloud could obscure the view for astronomy enthusiasts in southern and central England, the Met Office said.

A high quarter moon also risks outshining the dimmest shooting stars after midnight.

The best time to observe the Perseids will be 2am to 4am. Stargazers are advised to face away from the moon or block it from view behind a wall.

Those unable to see the shower can turn to Twitter for an online meteor watch organised by the Newbury Astronomical Society and the International Year of Astronomy 2009.

The Twitter Perseids meteorwatch follows on from a similar Twitter Moonwatch organised by the Newbury Astronomical Society in May.

Richard Fleet, the president of the society, said: "We realised early on that what people want are images of the night sky so we used our array of telescopes and cameras to provide a constant stream of pictures which we uploaded straight to Twitter.

"We were amazed at how excited people were about our Twitter moonwatch; we had thousands of people who had probably never looked through a telescope before asking us questions directly and viewing images."

The best views of the peak of the meteor shower last night were in remote rural spots in the south-east of England.

The National Trust has advised people to head to remote rural spots free of light pollution for the clearest views.

Jo Burgon, the head of access and recreation at the trust, said: "Light pollution from our towns and cities has increased so much in recent years, but head out to the countryside for the perfect place to explore the beauty of the night sky, away from the intrusive glow."

The trust's top seven recommended Perseids viewing sites are:

The chalk downland of Salisbury Plain near Stonehenge, Wiltshire

Black Down on the South Downs in West Sussex

Friar's Crag, Cumbria

Mam Tor in the Peak District, Derbyshire

Teign Valley, near Castle Drogo, Devon,

Penbryn beach on the Ceredigion coast in Wales

Wicken Fen nature reserve in Cambridgeshire