DA14, a 46 metre wide asteroid travelling at 8 miles a second, is on course to hit Earth at around 7.26pm today.

Below is an artists impression of the likely damage of the impact, although some observers believe the collision may wipe out the planet's last remaining  populations of bees, raspberry plants and giant pepper fish.

News readers around the world are outspoken in their pre-news that the asteroid will not hit home - an indicator that all is not well - DO NOT PANIC - appears to be the unspoken message.

The precursor? Yesterday's unpredicted and unforecast meteor shower over Russia:

BBC: Meteor Shower Explodes over Central Russia.