Stars could be invisible within 20 years as light pollution brightens night skies

The increased use of light-emitting diodes is obscuring our view of the Milky Way as well as taking a toll on human and wildlife health

The Herefordshire hills basked in brilliant sunshine last weekend. Summer had arrived and the skies were cloudless, conditions that would once have heralded succeeding nights of coal-dark heavens sprinkled with brilliant stars, meteorites and planets.

It was not to be. The night sky was not so much black as dark grey with only a handful of stars glimmering against this backdrop. The Milky Way - which would once have glittered across the heavens - was absent. Summer's advent had again revealed a curse of modern times: light pollution.