Peak night 12–13 August 2027 · in 280 days

Will I see the Perseids 2027?

The summer favourite: warm nights, high rates and bright meteors with trails. The radiant is up all night from Europe and North America.

Video: Dmitry Varennikov / Pexels

Perseids · near London

Good, despite the moon

Up to about 81 meteors an hour from a dark place near London around 04:13, with a bright gibbous moon (83% lit), set by the best hour. In a city, about 18.

81meteors an hour at the best time, dark sky

04:13best time (UK)

83%moon lit

73%clear-sky chance

100an hour in perfect skies (ZHR)

A dark-sky night for the PerseidsAway from town lights you see three to ten times more. Hotels near dark sky parks, with the peak night filled in.

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From your city, 12–13 Aug

Meteors an hour at the best moment of the peak night (local time), from a dark place nearby and from the city itself, and how often the sky was clear on that night (2014–2025).

UK & Ireland

City	Best time	Dark sky	In the city	Clear sky
London	04:13	81/h	18/h	73%
Manchester	03:58	81/h	18/h	39%
Birmingham	04:13	81/h	18/h	57%
Bristol	04:13	81/h	18/h	53%
Cardiff	04:13	80/h	18/h	50%
Newcastle	03:43	81/h	18/h	34%
Glasgow	03:58	81/h	18/h	40%
Edinburgh	03:43	80/h	18/h	37%
Belfast	04:13	80/h	18/h	45%
Dublin	04:13	80/h	18/h	37%

Europe

City	Best time	Dark sky	In the city	Clear sky
Paris	05:13	81/h	18/h	41%
Amsterdam	04:43	82/h	18/h	24%
Brussels	04:58	82/h	18/h	49%
Berlin	04:13	84/h	19/h	50%
Munich	04:43	83/h	18/h	50%
Zurich	04:58	82/h	18/h	63%
Vienna	04:13	83/h	19/h	50%
Copenhagen	03:43	83/h	18/h	68%
Stockholm	02:43	83/h	18/h	39%
Oslo	03:13	82/h	18/h	48%
Helsinki	02:58	83/h	19/h	52%
Reykjavík	–	0/h	0/h	28%
Madrid	06:13	78/h	17/h	72%
Barcelona	05:43	79/h	18/h	62%
Lisbon	05:43	77/h	17/h	57%
Rome	04:58	81/h	18/h	77%
Athens	05:28	81/h	18/h	–

North America

City	Best time	Dark sky	In the city	Clear sky
New York	04:58	69/h	15/h	52%
Boston	04:28	69/h	16/h	60%
Washington DC	05:13	68/h	15/h	69%
Atlanta	05:58	65/h	14/h	57%
Miami	05:58	60/h	14/h	55%
Chicago	04:43	67/h	15/h	72%
Dallas	05:43	63/h	14/h	71%
Denver	04:58	65/h	15/h	66%
Phoenix	04:43	64/h	14/h	65%
Los Angeles	05:13	66/h	15/h	62%
San Francisco	05:13	67/h	15/h	68%
Seattle	04:43	68/h	15/h	72%
Toronto	04:58	69/h	15/h	68%
Montreal	04:28	70/h	16/h	66%
Vancouver	04:28	67/h	15/h	72%
Calgary	04:43	66/h	15/h	67%

Australia, New Zealand & South Africa

City	Best time	Dark sky	In the city	Clear sky
Sydney	–	0/h	0/h	66%
Melbourne	–	0/h	0/h	52%
Brisbane	05:28	7/h	2/h	72%
Perth	–	0/h	0/h	47%
Auckland	–	0/h	0/h	–
Christchurch	–	0/h	0/h	–
Cape Town	–	0/h	0/h	48%

The coming years

The moon decides most years. From a dark place near London at the best time:

Year	Peak night (UK)	Moon	Meteors/h
2027	12–13 Aug	83%	81
2028	11–12 Aug	62%	34
2029	11–12 Aug	7%	75
2030	12–13 Aug	99%	29

Perseids in numbers

Active: Jul 17 – Aug 24
Radiant: Perseus (RA 48°, Dec +58°)
Speed: 59 km/s
Parent: comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle
Best from: the northern hemisphere

Other showers coming up

11–12 Nov

Perseids: questions

It peaks at 22:43 UTC on 12 August 2027, so the best night is 12–13 August 2027 in the UK. It is active from Jul 17 – Aug 24.

In perfect skies up to 100 an hour (the ZHR). From a dark place near London, about 81 an hour at the best time; near New York 69; near Sydney 0. From a town, about a fifth of that.

Around 04:13 in the UK on the peak night, when the radiant in Perseus is 67° high and the moon is down. Check your own city above.

Dust from comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle. The Earth crosses its trail every year; the bits burn up at 59 km/s about 100 km up. They seem to come from Perseus, which gives the shower its name.

From airport weather records 2014–2025, the sky on the Perseids peak nights was on average 73% clear in London, 52% in New York and 66% in Sydney. Every city is in the table above.