Perseid meteor shower: Where to get the best view

People living in the Midlands and the North will have the best view of the annual Perseid meteor shower which peaks this week, according to the latest predictions by the Met Office.

Cloud cover across southern England and Scotland throughout the week means lucky star-gazers in the northern countryside are expected to have the best views of the shower.

Occurring yearly between July 17 and August 24, the meteors will reach their peak on Wednesday and Thursday night when over 100 meteors an hour will be produced.

The Perseids are being widely anticipated this year as they coincide with a new moon, creating the ideal dark sky conditions, and will also be joined overhead by a bright man-made star, the International Space Station (ISS).

Professor Mark Bailey, director of Armagh Observatory in Northern Ireland, called the Perseids the "best and most reliable meteor showers of the year."

Mr Bailey added the Perseids may this year produce an outburst of activity around 7.40pm BST on August 12. Although it is unfortunately still daylight at that time in the UK and Ireland, it is just possible that enhanced rates may persist for a few hours around this time and so be observable soon after dark."

A spokeswomen for the Met Office said currently cloud cover is expected to be minimal in the Midlands and the North, and advised those looking to see the bright streaks of light to head to rural spots.

Members of Birmingham Astronomical Society are readying themselves to take advantage of the region's clear skies.

Member and keen astronomer John Downing, 71, said the "moon will be the biggest factor."

Mr Downing added: "If it is a full moon, then you can't see much, but this year we've got a clear sky. We could be lucky and being able to see the ISS is an added bonus."

The ISS, which orbits earth every 90 minutes, will be visible for four minutes from 10.28pm on Wednesday.

Robin Scagell, vice-president of the Society for Popular Astronomy, said: "The thing about shooting stars is they're a wonderful free spectacle we can all enjoy, assuming clear skies.

"Its best to watch them from the countryside but even in town, these meteors are bright enough for a few to be visible.

"The moon is out of the way which makes a lot of difference because the sky will be much darker all night. For every bright shooting star you see, there are always fainter ones, and this will make it easier to see the fainter meteors and ring up the numbers.

"The Perseids are usually fairly bright. Also, they tend to leave a trail, or train, behind them. You can see the train hanging there glowing in the sky for a few seconds - sometimes for several minutes - after the meteor has gone."

He urged people to keep a special eye out for the International Space Station.

"It will move from the west below the bright star Arcturus and then move towards the south, fading out as it passes into the Earth's shadow at 10.32pm," said Mr Scagell.

"And it will be the brightest thing in the sky, apart from aircraft. It'll be in mid sky from southern England and quite low in the sky from northern Scotland but still visible."

Meteors are the result of particles as small as a grain of sand entering the Earth's atmosphere at high speed and burning up.

They can appear anywhere but seem to emerge from a single point, or "radiant". The Perseid's radiant is in the north-east constellation of Perseus.