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Meteor showers from the UK
A meteor shower happens when Earth passes through a stream of dust left by a comet or asteroid. Here is every shower worth watching from Britain, with peak times for 2026 and 2027.
The showers
- Quadrantids: 28 December – 12 January, up to about 80 an hour.
- Lyrids: 14 – 30 April, up to about 18 an hour.
- Eta Aquariids: 19 April – 28 May, up to about 50 an hour.
- Southern Delta Aquariids: 12 July – 23 August, up to about 25 an hour.
- Perseids: 17 July – 24 August, up to about 100 an hour.
- Draconids: 6 – 10 October, up to about 10 an hour.
- Orionids: 2 October – 7 November, up to about 20 an hour.
- Taurids: 10 September – 10 December, up to about 5 an hour.
- Leonids: 6 – 30 November, up to about 15 an hour.
- Geminids: 4 – 20 December, up to about 150 an hour.
- Ursids: 17 – 26 December, up to about 10 an hour.
By year
Tips for beginners
You need no equipment, just darkness, patience and warm clothes. Most meteors appear in the hours after midnight, when your side of Earth faces forward along its orbit. A shower's 'radiant' is the point the meteors seem to fly out from; they can appear anywhere in the sky.
Questions answered
What is a meteor shower?
A time each year when many meteors appear from the same part of the sky, as Earth crosses dust left by a comet or asteroid.
What is the best meteor shower of the year?
The Geminids in December and the Perseids in August are the strongest and most reliable from the UK.
What is a fireball?
A meteor brighter than the planet Venus. The Taurids and Geminids are known for them.
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