Witnesses have described watching a green-tinged meteor flash across the Hampshire sky.

The ''fireball'' shot over England and Wales in a northerly direction at around 9.45pm yesterday.

Experts believe the meteor might have formed from debris from Halley's Comet.

Many observers took to Twitter to report the phenomenon with sightings apparently recorded in Cornwall, Hampshire, Lancashire, South Wales and Worcestershire.

Suzy Buttress, of Basingstoke, said she spotted the celestial body while driving along the M3.

She wrote on Twitter: ''I have just seen the biggest meteor in my life! It was also noticeably green, and appeared very large compared to regular meteors I've seen.''

Louise Darnell also reported the unusual event on the social networking site.

She wrote: ''Seen the brightest and lowest shooting star ever! It was definitely a UFO..??''

Reports suggested the meteor crossed Britain from the South East towards the North West.

Space scientist Maggie Aderin-Pocock said the meteor's size was unusual.

She said: ''It seems that this one was particularly large and particularly bright, which is why it's caught so much attention.

''It's quite likely to be part of the Eta Aquarids, which is the debris left by Halley's Comet. And twice a year we pass through the debris left behind by the comet and when this happens we see more of these shooting stars, but there must have been a large lump left behind which is what caused such a bright meteor to be seen.''