Fireball - stock image
Stock image
A 'FIREBALL' has been seen blazing a trail across the skies of Sussex.

One Twitter user said: "Just driving through and looked up to see something we could only describe as a fireball.

"It was a real 'wow' moment, I just saw it fly across the windscreen.

"It was low and very fireball-like."

The UK Meteor Observation Network posted an image of the fireball, taken in East Barnet in London.

Fireball seen in Sussex
© UK Meteor Observation NetworkFireball seen in Sussex

It said it had received more than 30 reports of sightings.

According to the American Meteor Society, "a fireball is another term for a very bright meteor, generally brighter than magnitude -4, which is about the same magnitude of the planet Venus in the morning or evening sky".

It added that "the brighter the fireball, the more rare is the event" and revealed that even experienced observers could only expect to see one fireball of magnitude -6 for every 200 hours of meteor observing".