Bright green fireball seen over UK and northern Europe breaks up over North Sea
A bright fireball lit up the skies over the United Kingdom and neighboring parts of northern Europe at around 23:24 UTC on April 12 (00:24 BST on April 13), 2026. Trajectory analysis indicates the object burned up over the North Sea, while witness reports described a bright green fireball with terminal flaring and fragmentation.
Very bright fireball over the United Kingdom on April 12, 2026. Credit: Northumberland Astro
The American Meteor Society (AMS) received at least 227 witness reports as of April 14, along with six videos and three photos linked to the event. Reports came from England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, and the Isle of Man.
Most reports clustered between 23:20 and 23:25 UTC on April 12, matching the main event window. Witnesses most commonly described the fireball as lasting a few seconds, although some reported longer durations that are likely influenced by perception and viewing angle rather than actual atmospheric flight time.
BBC reporting cited Charlotte Bays of the UK Fireball Alliance, who said trajectory analysis suggests the object passed over the North Sea, making meteorite recovery unlikely.
John Maclean of the UK Meteor Network said the fireball was probably not linked to an active meteor shower and likely originated from a larger asteroid fragment. The analysis indicated the meteoroid had an estimated mass of about 12 g (0.4 oz) and an entry speed of about 32 000 km/h (20 000 mph), despite producing an unusually bright display.
Witness reports consistently described the fireball as exceptionally bright, with many estimating its brightness far greater than Venus. Multiple detailed reports described green or light-green coloration, while others reported orange, yellow, white, and blue tones during the event.
Several witnesses also reported a bright terminal flare and visible fragmentation near the end of the meteor’s path. Descriptions included pulsing flashes, sparks, and small glowing fragments before the object disappeared. Those observations are consistent with late-stage atmospheric breakup during ablation.
A user from England reported pulsing brightness, almost as though layers were burning off, revealing fresh, brighter material each time.
A small number of sound reports were submitted, but those accounts are less reliable than the visual observations because of the wide viewing area and the short time intervals described.
References:
1 Fireball event 2685-2026 – IMO – April 12, 2026
2 Footage captures meteor crossing the sky – BBC – April 13, 2026
Teo Blašković founded The Watchers in 2011 and edited it until 2026, covering seismic and volcanic activity, extreme weather, space weather and near-Earth objects. Articles on this page are his archive.
Published in the last 24 hours
- In September 1859, a solar storm lit up the night sky so brightly that gold miners in the Rocky Mountains woke up after midnight and started cooking breakfast, convinced the aurora glowing over their camp was the sunrise Epicenter
- A patch of warm Pacific water that could become the strongest El Niño in more than 70 years sits thousands of miles from any American town, yet it is already the main reason NOAA expects a wetter winter across the South and a milder one across the North
- A 19-year-old Nebraska teacher reportedly tied her pupils together with twine and led them to safety through a blizzard in January 1888 Epicenter
- NASA built the Opportunity rover to last 90 days on Mars, and Martian winds helped keep it alive for nearly 15 years by blowing dust off its solar panels, until a planet-wide dust storm in 2018 blocked sunlight and silenced the rover Epicenter
Antihelion source suggested, again. Thank you, Teo.