Stargazers should prepare themselves for an astronomical treat.

A meteor shower, the Perseids, will soon be at its peak, delivering a spectacular show for astro enthusiasts.

Dan Pye, the Kielder Observatory's director of astronomy, explained that the Perseids meteor shower is one of the most active of the year, with up to 100 meteors visible every hour.

He said: "The best places to see the Perseids is in a dark sky location, and they are visible to the naked eye.

“By 10pm on August 12, the moon will have set below the horizon and so any time after that until dawn will be a good time to look for it."

The cosmic event is caused by the debris from comets that disintegrate as they approach the sun, with fragments entering Earth's atmosphere at speeds between seven and 45 miles per second.

Larger meteors can explode as fireballs, while smaller ones vaporise, creating a bright trail of light in the night sky.

Mr Pye said: “They’re very fast moving and last only a couple of seconds.

"They can be short, or a much longer streak and they’re thought to come from the constellation of Persius, hence the name, towards the North East part of the sky.”