AN asteroid exploded over the English Channel in the early hours of this morning.
The 3ft “fireball”, dubbed Sar2667, lit up the sky shortly before 3am.
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Sightings were reported across southern England and Wales, as well as in parts of France.
It is only the seventh time an asteroid impact has been predicted in advance.
The European Space Agency tweeted that it was “a sign of the rapid advancements in global asteroid detection capabilities”.
It earlier said the object was expected to “safely strike” the earth’s atmosphere above northern France.
Experts at the International Meteor Organization anticipated the event, known as an “airburst” would create a “fireball” effect.
Physicist and airburst specialist Mark Boslough from the Los Alamos National Laboratory told Wales Online that while airbursts of this size happen several times a year, they are “rarely discovered in advance”.
What is an asteroid?
AN asteroid is a small, rocky object which orbits the sun.
Most originate from the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, according to NASA.
They vary in size. The largest known asteroid is Vesta, which is about 326 miles in diameter.
Asteroids large enough to cause damage hit Earth about once a century. Tiny ones may strike once a month.
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