Forget I’m A Celeb, these are the stars you should be watching this weekend

Geminid Meteor Shower 2017. — Meteor showers are caused by debris as it blasts through the atmosphere (Picture: Getty)

The Leonid meteor shower will light up the night sky this weekend, treating stargazers to a dazzling display.

The best time to see the spectacle above the UK this year will be between midnight and dawn in the early hours of Saturday.

The Leonids – one of the more prolific annual meteor showers – are usually fast, bright meteors, and are associated with Comet Tempel-Tuttle.

They appear to stream from the head of the constellation Leo the Lion, hence the name.

A tiny path of debris is left by the comet as it follows its path around the Sun, and this enters Earth’s atmosphere at speeds of up to 70 kilometres per second, causing the streaks of light we call meteors.

‘A meteor shower’s intensity denotes the number of meteors a lone observer would spot in an hour under optimal viewing conditions, with the meteor shower at its zenith,’ says Dr Minjae Kim, a research fellow at the University of Warwick.

‘At 10am on November 17 activity will rise to 15 meteors, assuming the seeing conditions are perfect if it was at the zenith. Even though a moderate background maximum is expected this year, brightness will be much higher than the average level.’

Don't worry, you won't need any special equipment to see the meteor shower — Don’t worry, you won’t need any special equipment to see the meteor shower (Picture: Getty/iStockphoto)

However, a clear sky, a little patience and the darkest possible conditions – away from streetlights and other sources of light – will give people the best chance of seeing the Leonids.

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The best displays will be visible in central, southern and eastern parts of the UK, according to the Met Office, so long as there are breaks between showers.

‘We have a waxing moon this weekend so there should be dark skies.’ said operational meteorologist Dan Stroud.

‘There will be a band of wind and heavy rain moving across the country, but by the time the sun goes down on Saturday, most of it should have cleared, and there will be some decent breaks between showers.

‘It will be hit and miss, but there’s a chance of clear spells, especially the further east you are.’