Howardites
Meteorites of Britain and Ireland

Found something in the UK or Ireland?

How to tell whether a rock might be a meteorite, what to do with it, who to ask, and what the law says, for anyone in Britain or Ireland.

How likely is it?

Honestly, not very. Only about thirty meteorites are recorded from the whole of Britain and Ireland in four hundred years, and only four of them were finds rather than falls. Meteorites do land here at about the same rate as anywhere else, but Britain's rain and soil rust their metal and break them apart within centuries, fields are ploughed, and dark stones are hard to spot among flints and gravel.

The things most often mistaken for meteorites in Britain are slag from old iron working, which is glassy, bubbly and often magnetic; iron nodules and pyrite from chalk and clay, which are heavy and rusty; flint, which is dark and glossy but not heavy or magnetic; and dark basalt and other volcanic rocks.

First checks you can do at home

Try a strong magnet: almost all meteorites contain iron-nickel metal and attract one, at least weakly. Feel the weight: most meteorites are noticeably heavy for their size. Look at the outside: a fresh meteorite has a thin black or brown fusion crust, often with shallow thumbprint-like dents, and no bubbles or holes. Look for rust: an old find will be rusty brown.

If it is full of gas holes, very light, or leaves a red-brown or black streak when rubbed on the unglazed back of a tile, it is almost certainly from Earth. Our step-by-step checker walks through these tests and gives an honest verdict.

What not to do

Do not clean it with water, a wire brush or chemicals: water speeds up rusting, and cleaning destroys evidence. Do not cut, heat, file or test it with acid. Children should never taste, cut or heat a rock. Keep it dry, in a clean paper envelope or a plastic bag with a little dry tissue, and handle it as little as possible.

If you saw it fall and pick it up within hours or days, it is especially valuable to science. Try not to touch it with bare hands; use clean foil or a fresh plastic bag turned inside out.

Record where you found it

Write down the exact place, using a map grid reference or your phone's location, and the date. Take photographs of the stone where it lies before you move it, and then next to a ruler in daylight. Note what the ground was like. A meteorite without a reliable find place loses much of its scientific value, and the find place is needed for the meteorite to be officially named.

Who to ask in the UK and Ireland

The Natural History Museum in London identifies possible meteorites for the public, and the national museums of Scotland, Wales and Ireland can advise too. Earth science departments at universities, and the curators of larger local museums, are also good first contacts. Send clear photographs, the weight and size, the result of the magnet test and the find place. Most people get an answer from photographs alone, because most suspected meteorites are recognisable as Earth rocks.

If it is a meteorite, a small piece will be analysed, and a description will be submitted to the international committee that approves new meteorites and their names.

If you see a fireball

A fireball bright enough to drop meteorites is usually seen by many people and recorded by the UK's networks of automatic meteor cameras. If you see one, note the time to the minute, where you were, which direction it moved in, how long it lasted, its colour, whether it broke up, and whether you heard any bangs a minute or two later. Report it to a fireball network as soon as you can: camera footage and witness reports together let scientists work out where any pieces fell, as they did for Winchcombe.

If a fall is announced near you, any search on private land needs the landowner's permission. Pieces found soon after a fall should go to scientists quickly, because the freshest material is the most valuable.

Who owns it? The law in general terms

In England, Wales and Northern Ireland no law settles who owns a meteorite, but the landowner is usually thought to have the strongest claim, so ask permission before searching and agree in advance what happens to anything you find. Meteorites are not treasure under the treasure law of England, Wales and Northern Ireland. On many beaches, taking stones is restricted, and collecting anything is often forbidden on nature reserves and protected sites.

Scotland has its own law on finds, under which ownerless objects belong to the Crown, so in Scotland ask the National Museum of Scotland for advice before keeping or selling a find. In the Republic of Ireland, ask the National Museum of Ireland. This is general information, not legal advice.

Easier ways to find space rock in Britain

Micrometeorites, tiny grains of space dust, land everywhere, and with patience and a magnet they can be found in the grit that collects on flat roofs and in gutters. Seeing real meteorites is easy too: the national museums in London, Edinburgh and Dublin all have meteorites on display, and several British falls can be seen in museums today.

Try it now

Is my rock a meteorite? Nine quick home checks with an honest verdict, or read the full identification guide.

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