Huge bang heard across London and the Home Counties that woke residents and shook homes was a SONIC BOOM caused by two RAF fighter jets 'scrambling to intercept an unresponsive aircraft'
• People were woken by an enormous bang in the early hours of Sunday morning
• The Metropolitan Police confirmed it was a sonic boom caused by RAF planes
• Two Typhoons taking off from RAF Coningsby, Lincolnshire, caused the boom
By JENNY STANTON FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
PUBLISHED: 04:29, 1 December 2019 | UPDATED: 08:39, 1 December 2019

The huge bang that sounded like an explosion and shook homes across London was a sonic boom caused by RAF planes, police have confirmed.

Thousands of people across the capital and the Home Counties were woken by what sounded like a 'large 'explosion' in early hours of Sunday morning.

The bang was heard at about 4.20am local time, rocking homes, setting off car alarms and sparking panic.

The Metropolitan Police reassured people when it revealed the bang was caused by RAF planes.

'The loud bang heard throughout north London and surrounding areas was the result of a sonic boom from RAF planes,' it tweeted. 'There is no cause for concern.'

It is believed two Eurofighter Typhoons taking off from RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire were the source of the sonic boom. The boom could be heard as far south as Brighton

It is believed two Eurofighter Typhoons taking off from RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire were the source of the sonic boom.

According to technologist Alp Toker, a Boeing 767-300 from Tel Aviv lost contact with air traffic control at 3.50am, and 10 minutes later at 4am, RAF Coningsby scrambled Typhoons to meet it.

The sonic boom was heard at 4.18am, and at 4.20am the plane safely passed central London and continued its journey.

Incident timeline

Technologist Alp Toker tweeted this timeline:

3.50am - Boeing 767-300 from Tel Aviv lost contact with air traffic control

4am - RAF Coningsby scrambled Typhoons to meet the aircraft

4.18am - Sonic boom is heard across London at the Home Counties

4.20am - Aircraft safely passed central London and continued its journey

The sonic boom could be heard from Brighton to Cambridge.

Earlier this year, two RAF Typhoon fighter jets caused sonic booms over the east of England.

The Typhoons' Quick Reaction Alert caused sonic booms across the east coast as they raced south from RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire.

Police across Essex received numerous 999 calls reporting an explosion, but the noise was believed to be the two RAF jets breaking the sound barrier.

An RAF spokesman said: 'Typhoon aircraft from RAF Coningsby were scrambled this morning, as part of the UK’s Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) procedures, after an aircraft lost communications in UK airspace.

'The aircraft was intercepted and its communications were subsequently re-established.

'The Typhoons are returning to their base.'

What is a sonic boom?

A sonic boom is a thunder-like noise a person on the ground hears when an aircraft or other type of aerospace vehicle flies overhead faster than the speed of sound, or 'supersonic.'

Air reacts like fluid to supersonic objects. As those objects travel through the air, molecules are pushed aside with great force and this forms a shock wave, much like a boat creates a wake in water. The bigger and heavier the aircraft, the more air it displaces.

The shock wave forms a 'cone' of pressurized or built-up air molecules, which move outward and rearward in all directions and extend all the way to the ground.

As this cone spreads across the landscape along the flight path, it creates a continu­ous sonic boom along the full width of the cone's base. The sharp release of pressure, after the buildup by the shock wave, is heard as the sonic boom.

The change in air pressure associated with a sonic boom is only a few pounds per square foot - about the same pressure change experienced riding an elevator down two or three floors.

It is the rate of change, the sudden changing of the pressure, which makes the sonic boom audible.

Source: NASA

OLAADEGBU:
Responses to the huge explosion on tweeter.