An asteroid has illuminated the night sky over the English Channel as it burned up on entry to Earth's atmosphere.
Videos of the event posted to social media on Monday, local time, show a huge flash of light seen from Brighton as the meteor passed overhead.
From Surrey, video showed hints of green cutting through the pitch black, before a burst of orange blanketed the sky.
The European Space Agency posted to Twitter that self-proclaimed "asteroid hunter" Krisztián Sárneczky detected the 1-metre-wide asteroid about seven hours before impact.
"I discovered this small body during a routine [near Earth object] hunt," Sárneczky told Space.com.
"It was immediately obvious that it was [a near Earth object], but it wasn't particularly fast across the sky, as it was heading right towards us, and it was faint."
Sárneczky had previously given the heads-up on another asteroid heading to Earth in March 2022.
The agency said it determined the time and place of impact before "countless enjoyed the spectacular view".
"For the 7th time, a small, safe asteroid was discovered in space as it raced towards Earth for impact," the agency tweeted.
Brighton scientist Kade Flowers was among those sharing footage, posting to twitter that "beautiful and rare events like this deserve to be shared".
They could be heard off-camera saying "wow" as they witnessed the spectacle.
The asteroid's arrival almost lined up with the 10th anniversary of the Chelyabinsk meteor, which entered Earth's atmosphere over Russia on February 15, 2013.
The 17m-wide fireball injured more than 1,500 people when it exploded and showered debris over the Chelyabinsk region.
ABC/Reuters
