Saint Patrick's Day meteor: 'Green flash' witnessed in skies around the UK

Sightings were reported in locations including London, Stafford and Hampshire

A meteor was sighted in the early hours above Britain, with several witnesses claiming the object gave off a “green flash” as it moved south to north.

Sightings were reported in locations including London, Stafford, Hampshire, and on the east coast of England, at around 3.16 GMT.

The colour prompted many people to call it the St Patrick’s Day meteor, with footage posted on Twitter by DJ Paul Gilbert appearing to show it over Battersea in London.

Richard Kacarek from the UK Meteor Observation Network told the BBC that it was the biggest meteor sighting they had ever recorded.

“It lasted for a few seconds. It was seen for hundreds of miles,” he said, adding that the network’s camera at Church Crookham in Hampshire captured the meteor from the west.

The colour reported by people who saw the meteor is “completely plausible”, according to experts who explained that the heat of the rock and its composition, along with gas or light refractions, could cause the rock to be seen as green.