Meteorite that landed in Cotswolds may solve mystery of Earth’s water

Most of the Winchcombe meteorite was recovered just hours after its spectacular fireball lit up the skies over the UK in February 2021 during lockdown. Photograph: Trustees of the Natural History Museum/PA

Water covers three-quarters of the Earth’s surface and was crucial for the emergence of life, but its origins have remained a subject of active debate among scientists.

Now, a 4.6bn-year-old rock that crashed on to a driveway in Gloucestershire last year has provided some of the most compelling evidence to date that water arrived on Earth from asteroids in the outer solar system.