RELUCTANTLY, I think it's time to declare the 2021 Noctilucent Cloud season over, at least as far as Cumbria is concerned.

While there have been some good displays above Eastern Europe in the past week, there has been no major activity visible from our part of the world or anywhere in the UK.

The conditions in the upper atmosphere which lead to the formation of these beautiful "night shining clouds" during the summer just aren't occurring as much now, and going by past years it's now very unlikely there will be any more displays.

It's not impossible - NLC displays have been seen from the UK into the first week of August - but I personally think the season is over.

But keep an eye on the northern sky after 11pm on clear nights for the next couple of weeks, just in case.

Venus and Mars are both on view in the evening sky too, shining close together low in the west as the twilight deepens.

Mars is quite hard to see, little more than an orange-tinged star to the lower right of the "Evening Star" Venus, which looks like a silvery spark in the sky after sunset.

Jupiter and Saturn are now evening objects too.

Yellow-hued Saturn rises in the south east around 9.30pm, and much brighter and bluer Jupiter follows it up into the sky an hour later.

By midnight the two planets - just an outstretched hand's width apart - are both well above the horizon, and look quite striking to the naked eye.

If you're out late on any nights over the next couple of weeks, keep an eye open for shooting stars.

Every year around August 12 the Perseid meteor shower reaches its peak, but activity is already building, so on any clear nights between now and then you might see a shooting star or two zip across the sky, coming from the east.

More on this annual meteor shower next week.