The meteor shower is caused by debris from the comet Swift-Tuttle, and this only happens every 133 years.The huge comet rockets through the inner part of our Solar System where Earth is and leaves behind a tail of debris, dust and gravel.
When the Earth spins through the debris, parts of it hit our atmosphere at very high speeds (140,000mph) and the flashes of light the particles disintegrating.
People need ideally to head away from city lights for the best views, to get a pitch black sky for viewing the show.