50-year-old spaceship set to crash into Earth at 17,000mph in weeks could directly hit UK

Just when you think things are starting to look up in the UK, what with the heatwave and the inevitable afternoons spent in beer gardens that come with it, I'm afraid there's some bad news you might need to be aware of.

It's been suggested that a 50-year-old spaceship that was first sent up into space back in 1972 could come crashing down to Earth next week and there's a chance it could hit the UK.

Now, we're well accustomed to warnings about meteors and asteroids and extreme solar events and funnily enough, much like Elton John, the Earth is still standing.

Scientists are constantly discovering new things about space and the more knowledge we have, the more there is to be afraid of, especially when it comes to things hurtling through the atmosphere at 17,000mph.

Fortunately, we've known about Kosmos 482, a failed Soviet mission to reach Venus, for some time now, with there also rumours that it could crash down to our home planet back in 2019.

However, this time it's for real and there is a slight chance it could hit the southern part of the UK, which features in a pretty vast 'red zone' featuring six out of seven continents. That's bad news for everyone except the penguins, as Antarctica is the only one that's safe.

Kosmos 482 underwent a failed launch back in 1972 and has been circling above Mother Earth ever since, but now Marco Langbroek, a satellite tracker based in the Netherlands, has predicted that the spacecraft will strike the Earth on May 10.

Russia were hoping to reach Venus back in 1972 (Sovfoto/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

It is expected to fall down at a tremendous speed of 17,000mph and you wouldn't put your house on the chances of the parachutes on board still being functional, so it could well have some pretty disastrous consequences, particularly if it hits land.

If Vladimir Putin was anything to do with the mission then you'd almost have to applaud his patience when it comes to destroying part of the UK, but given he was just 19 when the spaceship first left Earth, it's unlikely he will be able to take credit for this one.

Langbroek said: "With a mass of just under 500 kg and 1-meter size, risks are similar to that of a meteorite impact."

For those of you who are worried, or simply hoping for a day off work, then mercifully, other experts have suggested that the spacecraft is likely to land in the ocean. So maybe the penguins aren't the lucky ones after all.