The Perseid meteor shower is set to light up the sky tonight and tomorrow.

Here's everything you need to know about spotting a shooting star - and making sure you capitalise on the annual nighttime spectacle.

What is the Perseid meteor shower?

The Perseid meteor shower is an annual event when the skies are lit up by shooting stars.

The event is named after the constellation Perseus, the point in the sky from which the meteors seem to emerge.

These particular meteors are left overs from the Swift-Tuttle comet which last passed by Earth in 1992.

When the Earth passes through this solar junkyard the pieces of rock enter the atmosphere and burn up, creating beautiful, brief apparitions in the sky.

This year's event is enhanced by gravitational forces from Jupiter pushing even more debris into the Earth's path, which promise to make the event more spectacular than usual.

When is it?

Technically, it's already underway but meteors aren't visible to the naked eye until the shower reaches its 'maximum' - or peak.

Unusually, this year there will be a double peak: the first tonight, and again the following night.

That gives stargazers a double chance to catch sight of a shooting star.

What time should I watch it?

Anyone want to see the shower should stay up late or get up really, really early.

The sky has to be as dark as possible but will be heavily lit by a waxing gibbous, or 'almost-full', moon.

The moon will set at about 1.30 am so anytime between then and dawn is perfect viewing time.

Where is the best place to watch it?

The golden rule is to get out of town and away from street lights.

The darker the sky is, the more meteors you're likely to see - so a ten minute drive out of town is good enough.

But people who want to go a bit further could go to a designated 'dark sky' area.

Two internationally recognised sites are within driving distance of Cumbria.

The biggest in Europe is Northumberland Dark Sky Park, which is home to the Kielder Observatory.

Alternatively, there is another over the border at Galloway Forest.

Another option is to head down to the Lake District.

A spokeswoman from the National Trust said: "Big open skies are a defining feature of the countryside and on a clear night you can see some 4,000 stars sparkling bright.

"National Trust campsites are wild, natural and dark at night.

"With low light pollution they’re the perfect spots for peeping out of your tent and stargazing. Try Low Wray on the shores of Lake Windermere, Langdale or Wasdale."

How do I see it?

The good news is you don't need any special equipment whatsoever.

The bad news is that everything depends on the weather.

Robert Massey, deputy director of the Royal Astronomical Society, offered his top tips.

He said: "Take a deck chair so you can lie down and look up.

"Lying down is great because you get a bigger view of the sky.

"Early in the night you should look in a North Easterly direction."

"Get wrapped up and take a warm drink too."

"And if it's cloudy then just go back to sleep."

Will I actually see anything?

Well, as long as you've followed the advice here and the weather is okay then you should see plenty.

Robert Massey said: "Nobody quite knows but it should be good.

"It's hard to predict but there are forecasts which say that the Earth is moving through a big clump of material.

"When that happens you will see more because lots of debris burns up in the atmosphere.

"You could see 100 in an hour."

Some experts are predicting double that.