Meteor lights up the sky across Britain

Meteor lights up the sky across Britain

Police forces across the UK were inundated with calls last night after a large fireball, thought to be a meteor, was spotted in the sky. Reports of a 'bright light' and an 'orange glow' were received by police across Scotland and the north of England at about 9.40pm yesterday. 

Meteors are particles from space that burn up in a streak of light as they enter the Earth's atmosphere, whereas meteorites are larger objects that survive the trip and reach the surface of the Earth. 'The light was heading north to south. It lasted thirty seconds or more, It was really spectacular. We waited around to see if we would see anything else, but it was over very quickly.