[Mrluvaluva]

Stargazers across the UK have been disappointed when the predicted peak of a Perseids meteor shower was mainly obscured by clouds.

Astronomers said the annual night sky spectacle would be most visible last night, but many Brits who stayed up late to glimpse a shooting star were disappointed.

A major following on the microblogging website Twitter was set up to track the meteors, but most users posted messages of disappointment.

"#Meteorwatch has failed. It's quite cloudy out, just like last night. Figures," wrote Twitter user ginger_curls.

Tuesday night was more successful for many across Britain, although clouds also hampered efforts to see anything clearly.

Founder of the Twitter movement and member of skywatching group the Newbury Astronomical Society, Ann Davies told Sky News Online yesterday she was hopeful for a good night's viewing.

But come 2am BST, the groups Twitter account posted: "Clouds are too thick even to see where the moon is! Time to turn in.

"Due to the weather the team at Astrobunker have seen more journalists than meteors over the last 30 hours."

On Wednesday, astronomer Mark Thompson had told Sky News that meteor showers could be very unpredictable - but he had anticipated last night to be the peak of any activity.

The Perseids shower shoots across the sky every August when the Earth passes through dust debris left by the comet Swift-Tuttle.

The meteors - made up of small particles the size of a grain of sand - collide with the Earth's atmosphere at high speeds, creating up to 80 streaks of light per hour.


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