Stargazers will be glad of cloudless skies when watching tonight's meteor shower

Clear skies may lead to unpopular overnight frosts and plenty of ice scraping come the morning but eastern parts will be glad of their cloudless skies tonight.

These clear skies promise the perfect conditions for enthusiastic stargazers hungry to witness a spectacular astronomical show in the form of a dazzling meteor shower from 10pm tonight.

With the chance of two or three bursts at a time and multiple colours, experts promise that the rare event will be at its very best around 2am Sunday morning when they will appear almost overhead - with the Geminids producing up to 100 shooting starts a minute at their peak.

Meteor showers occur when the Earth moves through clouds of cometary dust - tiny particles burn up as they enter the atmosphere, creating bright, and at times colourful, displays.

The very best place to watch them will be under the clearest skies and away from city lights.