Twitter went into meltdown this evening as hundreds of people reported seeing a comet or meteor shower over the north of England.

Flashing lights apparently flew across the night sky at just before 11pm, sending people across the region into a frenzy.

Llinos Thomas, a 30-year-old dentist and Boyfriend Matt Brennen, a 26-year-old engineer, were among those who witnessed the events.

Mr Thomas said: "We were on the A55 from Chester towards North Wales and we thought we saw a firework.

"It was a massive cluster of lights in the sky, but travelling really quickly West and that's when we realised it was a meteor shower.

"It was travelling at really high speed for ten seconds and died out and faded away.

Among the posts on Twitter was one from somebody calling themselves Hong Kong Phooey who said: "Meteor shower and a ton of stars out tonight... Absolutely amazing to see!"

Nicole Piontkowski added: "Just saw a huge fireball looking thing fall from the sky"

Coastguards in Belfast also reported that they had taken a number of calls from people who saw the strange objects in the sky, and further siightings were made in Dublin.

The lights were also seen in Edinburgh, Glasgow and other parts of Scotland.