The Lyrid meteor shower lit up April skies, but when will you next get to watch for shooting stars?

The good news is you won’t have to wait long as the Eta Aquarids are just around the corner.

Here’s everything you need to know about how to watch.

The shower is active from around April 19 until the end of May but will peak between nightfall on May 5 and dawn on May 6 this year.

Like most Meteor showers, the Eta Aquarids occur when particles of comet debris enter our atmosphere and burn up, appearing as shooting stars.

In this case it’s debris from Halley’s Comet and it’s known as Eta Aqaurids as the shooting stars appear to originate from a point in the constellation of Aquarius.

While the peak of the shower won’t be until the early hours of May 6, there’s a good chance you’ll see shooting stars during the later part of the evening so you won’t have to stay up too late to catch a glimpse.

The moon on May 5 is almost full so skies will be brighter than usual but the shower will be visible to the naked eye so there is no need for any equipment, just let your eyes adjust and look out for fast and bright meteors with fine trains.

Due to the coronavirus lockdown you will have to watch from your garden if you have one, or from a window if the view allows.

Views will be clearest from rural locations away from sources of light pollution such as street lights and where you can scan the whole sky.

If you capture photos of the spectacle send them in to Rosanna.Elliott@archant.co.uk and we may feature them in a gallery.