A METEOR shower will be visible in the UK this week - and should last for 10 days.

The Lyrid meteor shower will start tonight and will see one shooting star flash across the sky every four to six minutes.

This year's shower will peak after dark on the night of April 22 and last until April 25.

Like most meteor showers, the Lyrid occurs when particles of comet debris enter our atmosphere and burn up, appearing as shooting stars.

It’s known as the Lyrid shower as the shooting stars appear to originate from a point in the constellation Lyra.

While the peak of the shower won’t be until the early hours of April 22, there’s a good chance you’ll see shooting stars during the later part of the evening so you won’t have to stay up too late to catch a glimpse.

You are likely to see around 10 to 15 shooting stars and hour during the shower but the Lyrid is known for unexpected surges where it’s possible there will be as many as 100.

How to see them

This year the Lyrids occur during the New Moon so the sky should be dark, and clear weather will mean a good view.

To see the shooting stars, look towards the North East after dark towards the constellation Lyra, The Harp.

If it is cloudy, you can check out the Exeter Observatory website and watch live meteors being detected on the radar and camera detectors.

The shower will be visible to the naked eye so there is no need for any equipment.

Views will be clearest from rural locations away from sources of light pollution such as street lights and where you can scan the whole sky.