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Wales Online
Wales Online
National
Daniel Clark & Ryan Merrifield & Phil Norris

Sonic boom over parts of England was caused by RAF Typhoon - updated

A sonic boom was heard over parts of England today (Tuesday, February 15).

The British Geological Survey said it had received numerous reports in Lancashire, as well as Merseyside, Greater Manchester and Cheshire at around 11am.

It said: "Data from BGS seismic networks were examined and signals consistent with a possible sonic origin were recorded at that time," MirrorOnline reports.

The statement added: "British Aerospace confirmed they did have aircraft airborne at the time and two RAF aircraft but cannot confirm at this time if any had gone supersonic."

BAE Systems have since confirmed a Typhoon aircraft created the sonic boom and apologised for the noise.

A spokesman for BAE Sytems said: "We can reassure people that the noise reported in the Southport area today was a supersonic boom from one of our Typhoon aircraft, which was undergoing flight testing in an offshore range area.

"As the UK's sovereign combat air capability provider, we regularly conduct flight testing sorties as part of the Typhoon development programme and our broader role in safeguarding national security.

"We operate in airspace cleared for supersonic testing but apologise for any alarm caused to local residents."

There has been a lot of military activity in the sky over Britain and tensions are continuing over fears of a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine.

PlymouthLive reports a Boeing Poseidon MRA1 (P-8A) flew over Guernsey and the English Channel on Tuesday morning - having taken off from Inverness in Scotland.

The plane is a multi-role maritime patrol craft armed with sensors and weapons systems for anti-submarine warfare.

It is also used in surveillance and search and rescue missions.

Flight trackers showed it first flew over South Devon, then circled Guernsey, then headed back north.

While huge B-52 bombers have been deployed from their base in the United States to RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire.

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