The meteors could've been Hydrids, might also have been early Geminids. The Geminids are a reliable strong shower, though I confess I don't usually make any serious attempt at observing them 'cos it's too damn cold to be outside for 5 hours in December :-)

Some folks on the Comet-ML list reported seeing what they thought was a new outburst from Comet Holmes last night, turns out to have been a fuel dump from an Atlas Centaur rocket that was launched recently.
--
simon