A dazzling meteor shower is set to peak across UK skies tonight (August 12).

The Perseid meteor shower is one of the brightest and fastest meteor showers of the year.

The shower lights up the skies each summer and is known for its fast-moving meteors - often dubbed "shooting stars".

Here is all you need to know about the meteor shower and how to view it in the UK.

The Perseids come from a comet called Swift-Tuttle, which orbits the Sun once every 133 years.

The rocks collide with our own atmosphere at high speeds of between seven and 45 miles per second, causing the meteors to vaporise and leave behind a bright trail of light, also known as shooting stars.

According to Royal Museums Greenwich, the average speed for a Perseid meteor is 36 miles per second.

The air in front of the meteor is squashed and heated to thousands of degrees Celsius.

The Perseid meteor shower will remain active and visible in the skies until August 24, it is expected to peak on August 12. It will bring up to 100 meteors to the night sky.

The Royal Museums Greenwich has provided its tips on viewing the meteor shower.

Its website says to ensure to check the weather forecast ahead of time, and if the forecast isn't favourable, find a different location to observe from or view the meteor shower on another day.

However, visibility could be affected by bright moonlight from the recent Sturgeon Moon.

The Go Stargazing website also has some of the publicly accessible dark sky sites in the UK.